if my heart was a house
by Setkia
Summary: In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose. "Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note:_** _I don't own_ _ **One Piece.**_ _I know, you think I'm crazy doing this with so many incomplete stories, but_ ** _check out my profile where I try to explain what I'm doing._** _I've wanted to write a long story for a LONG time._ ** _Beautiful Disaster_** _was not meant to be a long story, but it turned out that way. This story is meant to be long. Really long. Like, maybe the longest story for Zoro and Sanji ever. I love slow-burn, and I'm doing lots of experimenting with this story too, doing things I don't normally. This is AU, as I tend to do. It follows Zoro and Sanji almost step by step through their life and I know it'll be irritating, waiting for when they finally get together and all, but I swear, I'll make it worth it so if you would welcome and embrace this story the same way you embraced_ ** _Beautiful Disaster_** _I would really love you guys. The chapters will get longer the longer the story goes on. Is it too much to ask for at least 5 reviews? If you guys have any questions, I'll answer them. Please no flames, this is going to be a big project and I hope you guys like it!_

 _Edited: It's been a day and I've decided to change the story to present tense. ALSO, IF YOU READ THROUGH THE WHOLE STORY (which will take at least a year and a half to write) & REVIEW TO THE LAST CHAPTER (signed in, or else I can't do it) I WILL WRITE A STORY FOR YOU AND DEDICATE IT TO YOU, STORY OF YOUR CHOICE!_

* * *

 ** _if my heart was a house  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

"He's just a boy, they can't take him away from me!"

"You and I both know that, but since the incident they've deemed you an unfit guardian—"

"But I can't just leave him! He's only eight—"

"She was only nine. If it bothers you, I can ask for custody."

Silence.

"You'd do that?"

"If it means that much to you, I'll take him in."

"Are you sure? I don't want it to be too much of an imposition—"

"I'm offering. Besides, I've met him before, haven't I? He's the one with that unnatural tan, right? If we put him in an orphanage, they'll beat him to death."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much I appreciate this—"

"Stop crying, it doesn't suit you."

That conversation takes place two weeks ago.

Zeff has been home less often, going out and leaving him in the care of Patty and Carne.

Patty and Carne are nice, but they won't let him near the stove even if he tells them he can probably cook better than the two of them. They just pat his head and agree with him jokingly. He isn't a shrimp, Zeff's taught him how to cook and maybe it looks kinda silly when he does it because he needs a stool to see the top of the stove, but he makes better fried rice than either of them, Zeff's told him so.

A week later Zeff sits him down and asks him what he thinks about having a roommate.

Sanji has plenty of friends at school but living in a restaurant means that there are no other houses on the block, which means there are no kids to hang out with after school and Zeff won't let him go out to someone's house when classes finish because he needs the extra hands. The idea of having someone at home with him, his age too, sounds good. Better than good, it sounds amazing.

After Sanji's positive response Zeff drops the topic and never mentions it again, but staring in front of him, surely this is not what Zeff had in mind.

In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.

"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."

Sanji can't speak. What is Zeff thinking? All his dreams of talking late into the night with his new roommate shatter into glass. He had been excited, staring at the empty bed that is now across from his inside his room but now knowing this little cry-baby will be the one to occupy it, he feels largely disappointed.

"Introduce yourself," Zeff says gruffly, grabbing Sanji by his hair and pulling him even closer to "Zoro". He's strongly reminded of marimo. He glares at him. Zoro's grey eyes are narrowed and harsh, something broken inside of them that he can't understand. "Now, Eggplant!"

"I'm Sanji," he forces out.

Zoro doesn't do anything. He doesn't even blink. He's shivering, whether it's because he's wearing such torn clothes or because he's still getting over his long cry, Sanji doesn't know. He has a wide forehead though and though his eyes water up, urging him to blink, he doesn't. It's as if they're in a staring contest and Zoro is the only participant.

"Is he mute?" asks Sanji.

"Idiot!" Zeff screams in his ear. Sanji doesn't even flinch. Zeff is loud, he got used to it. He lets go of Sanji's hair and pushes him forward. "Show him to his room."

"Why do I gotta do it?"

"Are you whining?" demands Zeff.

"But—"

"Do it."

Sanji sighs, his shoulders slumping. He makes a move to grab Zoro by his hand, but the boy steps back and shakes his head. Sanji grabs him by his arm and pulls. Zoro doesn't move, he doesn't let his feet even slide, his arms wrapped so tightly around that sword that Sanji is sure he has to be squishing it.

Sanji kicks Zoro behind his knee and the boy reluctantly lurches forward on reflex, his grip loosening on the sword briefly before he holds it even tighter. "Move it!" Sanji snaps. He sends a look at Zeff, as if to say "it's not my fault he won't move", but Zeff keeps staring at him, like he expects Sanji to pull out magic fairy dust that will make Zoro fly to his new room.

No, it isn't his room. He's a freeloader as far as Sanji is concerned. When did he ask for a new roommate?

Sanji reaches out, grabs hold of the sword's hilt and tugs. Zoro tugs back to keep him off of him. He bares his teeth menacingly and glares, his eyes stone cold and harsh.

What is wrong with him?

"I'm going to take it if you don't come," Sanji threatens.

That gets Zoro moving. Sanji can't understand his strange attachment towards the sword but he doesn't question it, it gets him to move his feet and that's all that matters.

He leads Zoro down the hallway and turns to the left, noticing the idiot goes right instead, walking directly into a closet. He grabs his shoulders and redirects him to the correct room.

Sanji's room is small with perhaps a foot of space between his bed and Zoro's newly placed bed. It has already been fitted and Sanji supposes that in a few days the rest of Zoro's stuff will be arriving and he'll have to help him move in properly. He has a backpack which Zeff has taken from him.

Sanji sits down on his bed and stares at Zoro, who stands in the doorway, silent.

"I don't like you," Sanji tells him firmly.

Zoro blinks.

"This is my side of the room," says Sanji. He would laid out a line of pillows to divide the room fairly in half, but decides against because he isn't that childish. He's a very mature eight year old. Or so he likes to think. "You can't go here."

Zoro says nothing. Doesn't even question how, with the way Sanji's split up the room, he will manage to make it to the door, or the wardrobe considering it's on Sanji's side.

Sanji can't imagine being stuck living with this guy. He's all silent and brutish, even though he's obviously been crying. He doesn't know why the boy looks like he's cried himself dry in a mud pile and then rolled around in it, and he doesn't care to ask. All he knows was that he doesn't like his new roommate. And from the way Zoro is acting so coldly, he's pretty sure it's mutual.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note #1** : So I don't own **One Piece** and I know this will be long, but I'm really appreciative of those who decide to join me on this expedition. Sanji and Zoro come off as different because I'm imagining what they'd be like as kids and Sanji just kind of struck me as bratty (before the whole being stranded thing happened)._

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
** by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

After a few days of living with them, Sanji's prediction is proven right and someone comes with the rest of Zoro's stuff. He doesn't have a lot to Sanji's surprise, or maybe he's one of those minimalist people or something. He isn't sure. He watches as Zoro lugs his stuff up the stairs and goes the wrong way again.

It's stupid how he still can't find his way. Above the Baratie restaurant is a loft apartment. It's fairly simple with a large living room and kitchen to the right. After the kitchen there's a hallway that is lined with four doors; one for Zeff's room, one for storage, the main bathroom and one for guests. Sanji wonders why Zoro hasn't been shoved into that small room. After the living room is another hallway lined with four doors as well. On the right is the closet and bathroom, and on the left is Sanji's room and a small study/library. A mouse could find their way around the apartment and yet Zoro still has trouble.

Sanji watches as Zoro picks up a large box, struggling. Zeff isn't helping, he believes in kids developing their own strength and from the look of determination on Zoro's face, he wouldn't have accepted help anyway. Besides, it isn't like Zeff _can_ help, he has customers to tend to.

It's too heavy for Zoro, which Sanji figures the idiot will pick up on soon enough from the way he's practically sucking all the oxygen out of the room with each heave.

Sanji has spent the past few days observing Zoro. Mainly because Zoro is a strange boy who hasn't said a word since he's arrived. Zeff says he isn't mute, he's just silent and besides, something happened to him that he's still getting over.

For someone who annoys him, Sanji knows quite a lot about him, though not really significant stuff. He supposes that's the consequence of living with the enemy.

The first thing he knows about Zoro is that he's taller than him and that annoys him. Adults, he can accept that adults are taller than him and he assumes when he grows up he'll be tall too, but the fact that this shrimp is taller than him, even by a little, just seems like an insult.

Another thing about Zoro is that he sleeps like the dead. He doesn't move. Sanji tries to wake him the first morning and basically pets his face with his bare foot, but the boy doesn't wake up. He sleeps sitting up, the bed sheets rumpled but not necessarily unmade and when Sanji kicks him in the chest, Zoro's head bangs against the wall and he continues snoring.

Zoro eats like an animal. He holds a fork weirdly and during the first dinner Sanji does nothing but stare at him as he gulps down every piece of food on his plate, cleaning it better than the washer and then thrusting it towards Zeff, silently asking for seconds.

The boy doesn't do much, he just sits around staring at the wall or he's sleeping. All the while holding onto that sword. He even eats dinner with it right next to him.

He has no sense of direction. He's woken up Sanji in the middle of the night several times because he gets lost trying to find the bathroom. It's not complicated. You exit the room, walk about twelve paces left and then turn to the opposite wall and there it is. If you're in the dark, you just press yourself up against the wall and feel for the door.

The green haired boy communicates through grunts. At least, those are the only sounds Sanji's heard from him.

Zoro doesn't know how to obey rules. Less than an hour after Sanji has gone through the rules of the room (no coming over to my side, don't touch my stuff, clean your shoes before you enter, don't leave stuff laying around, clean up your messes, don't wake me up in the morning, don't set an alarm clock that'll go off at an ungodly hour ect, ect) Zoro walks to his side of the room, flicks Sanji on the forehead and then sits down on his bed. He's tracking in mud, he's dirty and then he lays his back against the wall, places that damn white sword between his crossed legs (he doesn't bother to take off his shoes, it's proper etiquette to do that!) and lets it rest on his shoulder. He then tips his head back and (Sanji can _not_ believe this part), promptly falls asleep.

He complains to Zeff about it but Zeff says that Zoro is here to stay so Sanji better get used to it and deal with the fact that he now has to share.

Sanji is not a spoiled child. At least, he doesn't think he was. Sure, he's been raised as a single child and by consequence, has been treated and pampered a bit but Zeff knows how to kick humbleness into you. If Sanji doesn't behave he can expect a quick kick to the head. He knows how to share, which, apparently, is something Zoro has yet to learn, the guerilla. Or rather, he shares. _Sanji_ 's stuff, not his own.

The first morning Zoro is in front of the bathroom mirror with disorderly hair and drowsy eyes (even though he's slept for probably twelve hours or something ridiculous like that), using —of all things— Sanji's toothbrush.

Sanji checks. Zoro _does_ have a toothbrush, it's right there by the sink, his has a green handle and Sanji's has a blue handle. And yet the idiot is brushing his teeth using Sanji's toothbrush.

He is going to go insane at this rate.

It's at this moment of contemplating all the things he now knows about the strange guerrilla who's wheezing as he tries to push his box forward that he realizes something. Zoro, the ever-possessive, non-sharing, toothbrush-stealing, loud-snoring, directionally-challenged Zoro, has left his sword unattended.

To confirm his theory, Sanji slyly gets off the couch he's sitting on and like a ninja, sneaks back into his room and there it is, just _there_.

One peek can't hurt, right? Besides, even if the rules say no touching other people's stuff Sanji made them and therefore can bend them a bit. It's Zoro's fault for being all mysterious.

Sanji takes the sword from its leaning position against the wall and sits down on his own bed. It feels weird to be in Zoro's space, almost like if you go over to that side of the room you enter a different dimension. It's a bit heavy and he supposes Zoro isn't so weak after all. He stares at the design on the sheath, he's pretty sure it's called a _saya_ (?), and starts to take it out of its case when—

 _CRASH!_

Zoro stands in the doorway, a box of his things on the floor, its contents sprawled about.

Zoro quickly jumps over his things and grabs the sword back from Sanji and then he growls. Actually _growls_ , a deep, guttural sound coming from deep within his throat that Sanji has only ever heard grown-ups make.

"You dropped your stuff, idiot," Sanji says, nodding towards the box.

Zoro doesn't pay him any attention, instead holding his sword tightly to his chest once more.

Well, they're back to square one, aren't they?

"Eggplant, what was that crash I heard?" demands Zeff. Sanji can hear his loud footsteps and his wooden leg as he marches down the hallway.

"Zoro dropped his stuff!" Sanji snaps, pointing a finger at him.

"I don't care who did it, just don't do it again," Zeff snaps, appearing in the doorway and Zoro goes inside the room, sitting on his bed to give him space.

Sanji grits his teeth and tries to imitate Zoro's growl, but fails miserably. "He got all touchy cause I touched his sword is all," Sanji pouts.

Zeff's head snaps to Sanji. "You did what?"

"I just wanted to see it!" whines Sanji, getting the strong feeling he's in trouble.

Zeff strides into the room, careful not to step on any of Zoro's things (adults, always behaving so _maturely_ ) and bends down to Sanji's level, the way he usually does when he doesn't like something Sanji's done. "Listen to me very carefully Sanji," says Zeff. Sanji is slightly taken aback by the use of his actual name. "Don't touch that boy's stuff."

"Does it have cooties or something?" asks Sanji, even though they both know he doesn't believe in cooties.

"What would you do if Zoro touched your special whisk? I'm not even allowed to touch it."

"Yeah but it's a sword! A whisk is useful, if it gets damaged then I can't make anything."

Zeff glares at him. Clearly Sanji isn't winning this competition.

"Don't touch his sword," snaps Zeff. "Got it?"

"Yes Zeff."

"Good. Now be quiet, the customers are accepting that Zoro's coming up and down the stairs, but the noise is something that can be prevented." Zeff glances at the box on the ground. "Help him clean it up. And Zoro?"

Sanji smirks. Now Zoro's going to get it.

The boy grunts in response.

"Dinner's at seven."

Sanji stares at Zeff's retreating back, not believing a single word. How has Zoro just gotten off like that? How come he isn't in trouble? Why isn't Zeff pissed? Sanji glares at Zoro and at his things.

It feels like everything he's known is changing with the introduction of just one new character, like the ones he reads about in stories, except in real life the bad guys aren't defeated by the end of chapter eleven.

Sanji gets down on his knees and starts to collect Zoro's things, throwing them harshly back into the box. Zoro doesn't move from where he is. "This is your mess, you've gotta help. It's your fault you dropped it."

Zoro growls again.

"Are you an animal or something?" Sanji snaps. "Just get this over with and then you can go back to brooding." He's quite proud of that word, it makes him sound all grown up.

As he's about to throw in a book, one on martial arts (so the idiot can read!), a photograph falls out.

It's of Zoro and a girl he's never seen before with blue hair. They're standing side by side, her arm wrapped around him while Zoro looks like he was trying to get away. Actually, it looks more like she has him caught in a headlock. "Who—"

Zoro grunts loudly and snatches the photo away, shutting it close in the book again.

Sanji wants to question him on the photo, but since Zoro is helping and he seems highly bipolar it's best not to. He is unpredictable and Sanji is _not_ cleaning up the whole thing on his own.

It is official: though Sanji had had a bad reaction to Zoro putting something of _his_ that had been in _his_ mouth into the guerilla's (which, Zoro seems to not understand, implied that they had just had an indirect kiss and Sanji does _not_ want his first kiss to be with that moron) Zoro is officially the king of overreacting.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : The thank-yous! I really would like a bigger response to this story, cause I know things start off slow and all, but even if I get notifications of favorites and follows, your opinion is really helpful for me as an author to develop. So I wanted to get this chapter out quickly because the first chapter was more of like an introduction and this one starts to get the ball rolling. So to the one person who reviewed, thank you, VeryFineAutumn4869: What story was it? Also, have you checked out **Tag**? I have no idea what you've looked at. Feedback is very much appreciated. Also, random question: anyone need a beta? I mean I know I've got so much correction to do with **Beautiful Disaster,** but I'm a very good corrector of other's work. Lastly, question of the chapter (cause I do love asking questions), **what do you guys think of Zeff, Sanji and Zoro's reactions to being in this new environment?** This is the third story I've put Zeff in (physically) and the first one where he actually plays a more important role._

 _Okay now the favorites/follows:_

 _Thank you for:_

 _Favoriting: Aj the human, ArwenTheDumbAuthor, Birdi124, Megenehason ZOSAN-LAWLU LOVER, Shizuka Taiyou, VeryFineAutumn4869, shinxshinx1595_

 _Following: Aj the human, ArwenTheDumbAuthor, Birdi124, Cottonpaw, Fedski, Flashtress, Megenehason ZOSAN-LAWLU LOVER, Shizuka Taiyou, VeryFineAutumn4869, shinxshinx1595_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note #1:** So I just went to an anime convention, my first one! And of course I bought some **One Piece** stuff, including this AMAZING art of post-time-skip Zoro looking all badass with Sandai on his shoulder. Anyway, moving on. I did not become broke (I was so close, I was running out of money and was like, "I'll go to an ATM", thank God the line to the ATM was practically outside, otherwise I would've completely lost it). I don't own **One Piece.** I have all of this story planned now, and you won't believe how long it'll be. You will all want to murder me, but I hope I can make it worth it. I'm really testing it here, I think, I've never prepared something this long/big and I'm really anxious about response. So far you guys are pretty supportive and I really appreciate it. This time around I really WILL try to thank everyone who favorites/follows. I hope you guys don't get sick of how long it is. I GOT IT! **Remember this, (because I might not), whoever reads the WHOLE story (once it's complete, it'll take at LEAST a year), and reviews to the last chapter can give me a request story and I will dedicate/write it for them. How's that sound?**_

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

Zoro has many things to complain about concerning his new situation.

He now lives on top of a restaurant that in and of itself is strange, but moreover it's loud and Zoro isn't used to the noise.

He can complain that now he sleeps in a room that is an obnoxious blue colour, or that the two men (one fat and tall, the other short and fat) who come in frequently always seem to stare at him like he's an alien and ask if his hair is natural.

He can argue about how the blond man taking care of him (who he will _not_ call his guardian, only Koshiro gets that title) is scary or that the traffic is too loud and can be heard from the short blond kid's room (it is not his room, it will never be his room).

He can moan about how there's never any peace and quiet, that he doesn't have any room to practice, that the blond has too much energy, that he wakes up too early. He can say the tub is too small, or that the building in and of itself is confusing in layout.

He can even say that the worst and most annoying part of this whole arrangement (which has been done without his permission) is the blond with the weird eyebrows.

All are true, (well not the part about being scared of the old man because he's got a peg leg, how intimidating is that?) but the truest reason why this is the worst possible situation he could ever land himself in is this:

She isn't here.

And she won't ever be here.

Zoro isn't stupid. He knows that when they say she tripped and fell, they're lying. If by tripped and fell they mean she accidentally _impaled_ herself on her sword while polishing it, then sure, he buys their excuses.

Zoro is young, but he is wise. He knows what being dead means.

It means they are never coming back.

Zoro cries a lot, but since he's come here he hasn't shed a single tear. Because she didn't cry and so he won't either. She used to make fun of him for always complaining and moaning about how she wasn't being fair to him. Now he's quiet. He's sure she'd be happy about it.

He is pretty sure the blond gets the wrong impression when he shows up. He probably thinks Zoro makes a habit out of crying, which he doesn't. He's stopped since. In fact, maybe he's crying a bit before he had enters the room but one look at that boy's ridiculous eyebrow and it shuts him up for good.

Maybe the boy thinks he's weak or something. Zoro doesn't care. Let him think what he wants to, so long as he doesn't touch his stuff, or hers.

Zoro knows she's gone but he doesn't like to think of it that way. He likes to pretend that he's just looking after her sword for when she comes back. He'll give it to her, telling her how he's kept it in tip-top-shape for her and she'll smile, ruffle his hair and then proceed to win against him using that very sword again.

She has beaten him two thousand times.

He has won a single fight.

He's still breathing.

He thinks victory should feel better than this.

Sanji, that's the eggplant's name with the weird eyebrows, is annoying to put things simply.

He's in Zoro's space too much, won't shut up, either whining and complaining or pouting or just being bratty.

After about a week of being at the restaurant, Sanji's guardian, Zeff, grabs him by the scruff of his neck and forces him into the kitchen.

It's loud and noisy and everyone is moving everywhere and going kind of crazy, screaming about orders or what table five wants or to get that scalding soup off the stove unless you want to be burnt alive.

"Time to earn your keep," says Zeff. He points towards a small stood where Sanji stands, peeling potatoes.

Zoro can accept that he has to sleep in the same room as Sanji, he is young and has been through "a traumatic experience" (geez, as saddened as he is about her death he didn't see it first hand so there's no reason to treat him like a doll), and therefore they think he doesn't want to be alone. He can deal with that. In fact, as annoying as Sanji is, his presence at night is nice. Knowing someone else is there, it's oddly comforting. However having to work alongside him? Zoro cherishes the times Sanji goes downstairs to help in the busy restaurant kitchen and enjoys his peace and quiet. Why does he have to join him? Besides that stool is way too small for the both of them.

Zoro pushes a chair to stand a few feet away from Sanji.

"Oi, I don't bite," snaps the blond.

Zoro wants to challenge him on that, but he doesn't. Instead he stares at the potatoes he has to skin and the knife. Knives aren't all that different from swords, he can figure this out, right?

Just as he picks up the knife and is ready to start skinning he feels himself move. He hasn't moved, his chair is moved and Zeff is pushing him closer to Sanji.

"You brats better get used to each other," huffs Zeff.

Sanji grits his teeth and doesn't look up from his peeling.

Seems he's opting for silence.

Zoro is fine with that, he needs it in the loud kitchen. For all his faults, at least Sanji knows when to shut up.

He starts to skin the potato when he hears it.

Sanji's laughter. It's the first time the boy has heard the other laugh, or more accurately, snicker.

"You're doing it wrong," says Sanji.

Zoro glares at him as though to ask if he's such an expert then why doesn't he just do them all?

Sanji holds out his thumb proudly.

Zoro squints. Is he supposed to be seeing something?

"I have a scar," declares Sanji proudly. "It's a battle scar!"

Zoro snorts. "Fighting against potato skins, Curlicue? That's hardly a battle scar."

Sanji blinks.

What's Zoro done _now_?

"You talked!"

Oh. He supposes he did.

"So?" Zoro snaps.

"You were just so quiet before ..." The boy begins to grin. Clearly he's starting to get conceited, maybe thinking it's cause of him.

"Don't let your head inflate," Zoro snaps. "I just couldn't stand your stupidity. You can't talk about battle scars, your worst brawl was with a frying pan."

"Like you've been out to war?" challenges Sanji.

Zoro decides Sanji is hopeless and ignores him. The blade of a knife just doesn't feel right to him, not like a sword. He isn't even sure how to hold it. Does he just wrap his hands around its base? Is he supposed to use a certain finger to guide the motion?

"You're still doing it wrong, Marimo."

Zoro blinks. Marimo? As in, green moss balls? It takes a couple of seconds but then Zoro realizes Sanji is making a quip about his hair. "Hey!"

"You're slow," but Sanji is grinning.

"Your smile is creepy."

Sanji's eyes narrow. "Well excuse me! Your existence is creepy!"

"Your eyebrows are screwed up," says Zoro. "All swirly and whatever. Are you defective?"

"Do you not know how to hold a fork?" snaps Sanji. "If anyone's defective it's you!"

"Do you even know what defective means?" Zoro challenges.

"'course I do!"

"Yeah, sure."

"You think I'm lying."

"No, I believe you."

"You're sassy."

"No sassier than you."

Sanji frowns. "I thought it might be fun when you started to talk, but I just realized you don't shut up."

"Me? You're the one who's always talking while you're cooking or staring at the ceiling! Who talks to the ceiling?" Zoro demands. And Sanji calls _him_ sassy? Has he looked in the mirror recently?

"Better than someone who doesn't speak."

" _Ahou_ ," Zoro growls.

"Well … well you're a _b-baka_."

Zoro raises an eyebrow. "No good at insulting?"

"I'm plenty good, moss-head!"

Oh, now he's done it.

"Bring it on, Blondie!"

"Idiot!"

"Oh, I'm really hurt, _boke_!"

" _Teme_!"

" _Dobe_!"

"SHUT UP!"

Zoro feels a strong tug at his hair and he's pulled back, almost lifted off of the chair he's standing on. He looks up to see Zeff staring at him with a frown. "Corner, now!"

Zoro gulps.

Okay, maybe he's just a tiny bit scared of the blond with the large moustache.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : The thank-yous!_

 _ougley : Thank you! I hope I do your favorite pairing justice. If you really want a feel for how I write ZoSan/SanZo (because I love couples who can switch/reverse), you could read **Beautiful Disaster,** if you've got the time. It's long._

 _lilcutieprincess : Thank you!_

 _VeryFineAutumn4869 : I'm scared to read works that are incomplete but I read **Blacksmith** and oh my God ... It tore out my heart and then mended it. A love letter written in steel. I spent forever staring at my ceiling just going, "how the hell do I top that?" and then I realized I just can't and I was jealous I hadn't thought of it first.  New Neon really is amazing and one of my favorite ZoSan authors. **Love me dead, Aural Pleasure** , and don't even get me started with **on alien shores.** They just ... It's perfect, and **Fluency** ... Just waiting for the next chapter. Any other recommendations because that was frigging AMAZING?_

 _Shizuka Taiyou (x2): Like I said, I just imagined Sanji to be a very bratty little kid._

 _Thank you for:_

 _Favoriting: ecklumi_

 _Following: SagaE, ougley, lilcutieprincess, silverfox45, ecklumi_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note #1:** This is a really short chapter, it was just cause the other chapter was sort of Zoro's point of view and this one is Sanji's and I wanted to save the next event for the next chapter. I don't own **One Piece.**_

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

"This is all your fault."

Silence.

"Stop grinning, it freaks me out."

Sanji's grin only widens.

So Zoro can talk, he just doesn't like to. He can live with that. Sanji likes watching grown-ups argue, it's fun. They get really mad and their faces turn red and they start to sweat and say bad words. He discovers though, that what he likes even more than watching a fight is taking part in one himself.

Baiting out Zoro is fun and surprisingly easy, he's very touchy.

"You're unsettling," Zoro grumbles, crossing his arms. "Anyway if you hadn't been all stupid this wouldn't have happened."

"You were the one who was yelling," Sanji points out.

"You started it!"

"You're such a tattle-tale!"

They both sat in silence in the corner of the noisy kitchen.

"I could be cooking right now, if it wasn't for you."

"Because it's totally my fault."

"Good to know you take accountable."

"Accountability," Zoro corrects.

Sanji turns to him. "Why do you know that word?"

"Koshiro taught it to me." Suddenly a dark look comes over the boy's face and he turns away from Sanji, forcing Sanji to stare at his back. "I don't feel like talking anymore."

Well at least this time Sanji got a warning.

"You know you're going to have to go to school, right?" asks Sanji. "Zeff's signed you up and everything."

Zoro says nothing.

"You'll be in grade 3, just like me, and then you'll have to talk to people to make friends." Sanji smirks. He's better at making friends than Zoro is, he knows it and he's sure he'll continue to be better at it than him. He has the same social skills of that mysterious tart recipe of Zeff's, intriguing enough to look into, but ultimately impossible to explore. "But you can't embarrass me, got it? I have a reputation to keep up."

Zoro snorts.

"What?"

"Nothing …"

"You're making fun of me."

"No …"

It seems putting them in a corner won't stop their fights, but Sanji likes fighting with Zoro. Zoro puts up a good fight, even if he _is_ whiny and annoying. If there's anything Sanji can get out of this new arrangement it's someone who can challenge him and he likes that.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : The thank-yous!_

 _VeryFineAutumn4869 (x2) : I totally forgot, there's also **Property of Sanji.** Ever since they worked out a way to incorporate Zoro losing his eye into their story I've always tried it now. I basically worship quite a few authors on the site,  New Neon, StarkBlack, crystalbluefox and such. What about **Let's try that again**? That was just ... I swear, how pissed I got and all ... I'm probably about to piss you all off the same way. I don't mind, to be compared to them (and not in a bad way) is highly flattering since I've only been writing **One Piece** for about a year. I only read completed stories normally but **Blacksmith** was so good, I might just check out some incomplete. It's just the fury of them not being finished and then getting really into it only to check the date it was last updated and silently pray/hope it'll be updated. _

_HollyWoodFix (x3) So are you going to be reviewing to every chapter now? I appreciate that if you did. It's going to kill you, I'm warning you. I'm killing myself by writing it, doing all sorts of things I normally hate to see how I write them. And slow-burn always makes the get together that much more amazing so yeah ... We're at the easy bit of the story, before chapters start getting the size of novels, so updates are faster but yeah ... It's slow, like REALLY slow, but hopefully I'll make it entertaining._

 _bakayaro onna (x2): I hope you're willing to get through this whole thing, it's probably going to take forever to finish. And I just figured Zoro would fight over something that stupid as well as the fact that I wanted his first words to Sanji to be an insult._

 _Thank you for:_

 _Favoriting: HollyWoodFix_

 _Following: bakayaro onna_

 _This will be a double post because it's so short._


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:** So I don't own **One Piece**. I've just been really inspired since going to the anime convention (yesterday) and I had to post. What Zoro says to Sanji (which will sound a bit odd, you'll know when you get to it) is something you tend to say when someone is letting you stay with them, or you're trusting them with something. It's a kind of formal thing to do and it was the most adorable thing ever, so I had to include it. Sanji comes off as an asshole, but understand everything he's ever known is being changed right before his eyes and he has no control over it. Please review, maybe 5 reviews this time around?_

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

As mentioned before, waking up Zoro is hard. It involves the followings steps:

Step 1: calling his name

Step 2: Poking him in the face repeatedly and noticing how squishy his face feels

Step 3: Kicking the side of his bed and then holding in a wince because you stubbed your toe

Step 4: Realizing you should've just screamed to get him up (by the time you realized this the pain was gone and you could only scream in true agony when the injury first occurs, it's the law, Sanji's sure he read about it somewhere)

Step 5: Considering throwing water on him to get him up

Step 6: Watching him sleep on his side (which he had started doing sometime after he started talking, which was a great relief to Sanji because before it had felt like Zoro was a menacing guard dog)

Step 7: Going to the bathroom and filling up a glass of ice cold water

Step 8: Deciding against it and putting it on the counter

Step 9: Kicking him in the face

Step 10: Shouting all sorts of creative made-up curse words to get his attention (this was Sanji's favourite part since he's not technically allowed to swear but if he says "parrot" in a menacing enough voice he can think it's a swear word and since "humperdinkle" is not technically a word, Sanji can come up with any meaning he wants for it and the meaning he's chosen is one that is not suitable for someone his age to know)

Step 11: Zeff yells at him because at some point he's realized what "humperdinkle" meant

Step 12: Zeff eyes the glass of water because Zoro is _still_ snoring like the log that he is (even if logs don't technically snore)

Step 13: which can only be described as _SPLASH_

Step 14: Scream loudly because of the bastard (Sanji almost giggles, it's such a bad word)

Final result: you have woken up one Zoro creature.

Sanji is pretty sure he should just write a book about Zoro, a how-to guide if you will. But then he eventually realizes that Zoro's too unique to possibly exist in more than one form and he isn't sure if that's a good thing or not.

He decides not to think about it too much because if he does he'll be late and this time, so will Zoro. Zeff isn't here, busy on a grocery errand. Sanji's sure it's just some devious plan to force he and Zoro to work together and establish a daily routine.

Because of Zeff's absence, waking up Zoro stops at step 10 because there's no Zeff to tell him not to call Zoro a "gumklebarts". So he opts for plan B.

Sanji stands on his bed (something he's been told not to do but Zeff isn't home, now is he?) and then jumps across the small space directly on top of Zoro.

There's a hitch in Zoro's breathing and Sanji thinks he's finally done it, found a shorter and much funner way to wake up the bear, but then he goes back to snoring and — ew! He drools in his sleep!

Sanji body slams against Zoro again and the brute makes a groaning sound. Sanji is laying on his side against Zoro, their hips are connected and it doesn't really feel very comfortable so Sanji climbs up Zoro's body until he's hovering over his face with his hands on either side of him so he doesn't collapse on him. He should really just fall and listen to Zoro wince in pain, but the man seems more or less indestructible so he's not sure it'll do any good.

Sanji grins. He has an idea. It's a brilliant idea really.

He leans closer to Zoro and takes one hand off the bed (which makes him rather unsteady if he's being honest) and instead presses it against Zoro's chest. He giggles to himself. He really is a genius.

And then, without a second thought, Sanji licks Zoro's face.

Zoro's eyes pop open and he slaps at his cheek, where Sanji's tongue was mere seconds ago. He stares at Sanji, eyes wide and filled with confusion. Slowly he turns redder and redder, much to Sanji's amusement.

"Get off of me, Curly Brow!"

Unfortunately Zoro is stronger than Sanji (another thing Sanji is not happy about) and Sanji topples to the floor as Zoro pushes him off.

"You're up."

"You're too chirpy in the morning."

Zoro shifts in his bed and glares at Sanji. "What the hell do you want?"

"We have school."

Zoro blinks.

"I told you about this already. Now get up!"

Sanji tugs at the bedsheets, trying to rip them out from underneath Zoro. It doesn't work. He kicks the bed again and stubs his toe again. "You're such a gumklebarts!"

Zoro stares at him as though he's an alien whose dropped from outer space.

Sanji can already tell that today is not going to go well.

* * *

When the class asks Zoro to introduce himself (coming to school in the middle of first term is kind of weird) Zoro stares at them blankly and says nothing.

So he's back to that, now is he?

Sanji awkwardly stands up when he realizes Zoro isn't going to talk any time soon. With his cheeks flaming red, he says, "His name's Zoro." Sanji never thought he'd say Zoro's name for the first time because he had to say it, much less, in place of the idiot whose jaw seemed to have locked up and stopped working.

"Thank you, Sanji," says the teacher and Sanji feels like his cheeks are on fire as he sits back down. "Zoro, why don't you sit next to Sanji?"

Zoro walks over to him and Sanji grits his teeth. Just when he starts to think he might be able to survive being with Zoro he goes and does this and he's upset again.

Zoro doesn't seem to notice. Zoro doesn't notice anything.

Sanji glares at him through the rest of the period and when it comes to snack time, Zoro speaks for the first time in school.

* * *

"You're mad." It's not a question.

Heck yeah Sanji's mad! Doesn't Zoro know how embarrassing it is to be the one who has to introduce someone who he knows can talk, but who doesn't? It makes him look uncool and he wonders if Zoro lived under a rock before this. Doesn't he know that he's supposed to talk? Let him know how it feels when someone's silent on him, when they won't response anymore. Let's see how much he likes it.

But Zoro doesn't get mad. He doesn't offer an apology, he just blinks and starts to eat his snack, glancing at Sanji every now and then.

It's after a few minutes of this that Sanji breaks the silence because he just can't stand it. "Where did you go to school before this?"

"I was homeschooled," Zoro says. "Are you done being mad at me?"

"No," Sanji snaps. "I'm not."

Zoro nods, as though he just accepts it and doesn't even bother to think about what he's done wrong. He doesn't ask what he did wrong. Does he not even know? Zoro glances at Sanji's snack. "Are you going to eat that?"

Sanji explodes.

"Yes, I'm going to eat it! It's not for you! Nothing is for you! I didn't ask you to come in here and walk your way into my life, it was better without you! I don't have to share with you, I don't want to share with you, Zeff isn't here, he won't protect you! You're such an idiot you can't even talk in front of other people, are you that stupid? Do you not know how to talk? You just move your mouth open and close and sounds come out! It's not that complicated!"

Sanji's breathing heavily now and Zoro's just staring at him so he continues.

"And you and your damn stuff, you'll take my stuff when you want but I can't touch yours? Not that you own anything that I'd like anyway and you think you practice marital arts? You're so weak! Couldn't even carry a box! I'm supposed to believe you're some awesome sword wielding samurai? Where'd you even get that old thing? Buy it at a junkyard?"

Zoro flinches.

"Some trash your dad got you or something?" Sanji presses. "Some kind of cheap second-hand antique that you got at a yard sale? Can you even use that thing? It's like twice your size!"

Zoro mutters something.

"What? Speak up, I can't hear you, you … you … bastard!" Sanji feels pleased at having said such a bad word. He likes it. It feels nice to say bad words.

"Shut up," Zoro whispers.

"Did I hit a nerve, Marimo?" demands Sanji. He's sick of it, of Zoro placing himself into his life without warning and then just acting so … so much like him! It's annoying, Sanji was comfortable with the way things were, this is too big of a change to just suddenly adapt to, he can't, it's not that simple. It's like everything he's ever known is being ripped out from under him and he's told he can't be upset about it. What's so fragile about Zoro? "Cry!" he screams. He just wants to know that he's not the only one who doesn't like it, he's not the only one who's overwhelmed and can't take it. He just wants to know he's not alone. "Cry, you big baby!"

"SHUT UP!"

The teacher notices. Of course she notices now. Zoro and Sanji will not be going out for recess now. And it's all Zoro's fault (and maybe a bit of Sanji's, but he won't admit to that aloud).

* * *

"Why did you have to yell like that?" demands Sanji, his legs pulled up to his chests as he sits on his small chair, watching the kids play outside. It's not fair, recess was his only escape from Zoro. Plus, Sanji's never gotten in trouble before. "And why are you so loud? You don't talk and then you shout like you're dying?"

Zoro mumbles something.

"And now you're quiet again! Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how much of an embarrassment you are? You're just so pathetic, aren't you? Why can't you just act like a normal person? Is that so hard for you, moss-head? Just speak,, say something, anything—"

"Sorry."

"Yeah, just like that— what?" Sanji stares at Zoro and sees that he's sitting on top of the desk, his legs crossed, but he's pulling at his knees as though to hide himself into his body. Zoro is staring at his newly bought pants to fit the school uniform that Zeff bought him, picking at a loose stand before he looks up at Sanji. "I said I'm sorry."

Looking Zoro in the eye is something Sanji's never experienced before and it leaves him kind of stunned. He realizes Zoro had grey eyes, something that, despite all the times he's been glared at, has slipped his notice until now. They're like a hazel colour, and Sanji finds hazel to be a bit confusing. Hazel is weird because it's a mix of colours, like the eye can't decide which colour to be. While Zoro's eyes are grey, there are fleck of blue in them too, but they mostly remind him of … steel, actually.

Sanji nods, shaking himself out of it. "Damn right you're sorry!" He looks away because he's heard that eye-contact is extremely inmate (he knows that's not the word but it's something like that) and he can feel his cheeks reddening from embarrassment. He pauses. "Do you know why you're sorry?"

"No."

Sanji blinks. He's back to being mad again. "How can you apologize and not know why?"

Zoro looks away, irritated. "I don't know what I did," he says slowly, "but you're upset with me and … I don't like that." He plays with a piece of cloth once more and Sanji realizes he's just as nervous as he is. "Is it because I yelled? Because I wouldn't speak? I'm not … I'm not used to big crowds," he says. "I'm not good with new places." He's turning red, his tanned cheeks turning a shade darker and Sanji finds it weird because he's never met someone with a tan before. "Or people," he admits. "I … If it stops you from being mad at me, I'll apologize." He bites his lip so hard Sanji thinks it's bleeding. "Um … I'm new at this whole thing, school and stuff. And people. So …" Suddenly Zoro repositions himself on the table so that he's bowing in front of Sanji. "Please take care of me!"

Sanji blinks.

And then he laughs.

"Idiot," he says. "I'm not going to hit you." He pushes Zoro but he stays rigidly still, like he's been in this pose before and nothing can off-set his balance.

When Zoro looks up he sees the sunlight streaming in and turning Sanji's weird hair golden. It sparkles and shines and Zoro's left without words.

When Sanji finally stops laughing, Zoro looks back down and picks at his pants. "So … you're not mad now?"

Sanji smiles. And it's not creepy or weird, he smiles the same way Zoro sees her smile when she beats him, happy, kind of giddy, like she's having the time of her life. And he realizes this is the first time he's thought of her and his chest doesn't hurt.

"No, Marimo, I'm not mad anymore," says Sanji, flicking him in the forehead.

And Zoro knows things are going to be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note #1:** Don't own **One Piece.** I've got a couple of chapters pre-written and Sanji needed to make up for being an asshole so yeah ... Chapter lengths will vary at the beginning. You thought their school day was over, didn't you?_

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Six

* * *

When the teacher comes back to check on them, Sanji and Zoro are arguing as usual but there's something lighter about it so she lets them leave for the last ten minutes of recess and they practically dash out the door, leaving a trail of dust. It's moments like these that make her glad she's a teacher.

Things go sour once they're outside though.

Zoro has just walked out when he gets pulled into a headlock by one of the kids.

"Hey, what's with your hair?" Bully Number One asks, giving Zoro a nuggie.

"What about his skin? It's all dark and stuff!" says another.

Zoro growls but these kids aren't like Sanji, they aren't intimidated.

"Oh, he's scary, like an animal!" says Bully Number Two. "They should put him in the zoo!"

Zoro grunts and he can't quite grab the other boy's arm because it's too high up so he does the next best thing.

He bites him. Hard.

"OW!"

The boys jump back and glare at him. "He's got rabies!"

Zoro rolls his eyes but it seems that his offensive move hasn't done anything to stop the boys from advancing on him. "Cover his mouth, make sure he doesn't bite!"

And Zoro's never felt like a caged animal before but now he does. He steps back as the two boys lean closer to him, their arms raised. Zoro hates Sanji for not letting him bring Wado. If he had Wado these boys would be done in a couple of seconds.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Both the boys and Zoro freeze to see Sanji exiting the school. What held him up? Zoro shakes his head. It doesn't matter. Besides, he doesn't need Sanji to protect him, he's strong, no matter what other think.

"Hey, Blondie, why're you friends with this weirdo?" asks Bully Number One.

"Protecting your friend, are you, Vinsmoke? Why bother? I thought you were cooler than that."

Words don't hurt Zoro, they can't, they don't cut like a sword, he can't bleed from them. He doesn't get mad because they're being mean to him. He doesn't.

Sanji on the other hand does.

"I thought you were cooler than this," says Sanji right back. "Bullying him cause he's got weird hair?" Sanji points to himself and Zoro realizes he's never seen someone with blond hair before Sanji. "And you're not making fun of me?"

"But yours isn't green, this isn't anime!" Bully Number Two says.

Bully Number One seems to consider what Sanji's saying before he grins. "You're right, we don't make fun of you for it. We should."

Sanji's eyes widen. It seems he's realized that he's just invited them to start being mean to him. Idiot.

"Don't gang up on me—"

"It's two on two, right? How's it not fair?" asks Bully Number One.

Bully Number Two seems hesitant. "We are kind of bigger than them—"

"Shut up!" Bully Number One hits Bully Number Two in the face. "It's not like they can fight. I take lessons, I could take them two to one," he brags.

Zoro clenches his jaw. He can beat the two now that they don't have him in a headlock in mere seconds. He's just about to do it when Sanji moves and grins in Bully Number One's face. What is he doing?

"You take lessons?" Sanji asks innocently.

"Yeah, I do, so you'd better watch out!" says Bully Number One.

Zoro realizes this is Sanji's way of confrontation. Bully Number One is so stupid he doesn't even realize that Sanji's standing closer to him so that the fact that Bully Number One is a few centimetres taller than Sanji is really insignificant. Sanji doesn't fight, Zoro knows it, he kicks and yells but he's never really fought. But Sanji's giving off the feeling of a trained fighter and he wants to see what happens.

"Do you know what I do?" asks Sanji.

"Does it matter?" Idiot. He's still bragging.

"I'm a cook," says Sanji.

The bully laughs loudly and looks over his shoulder at his friend as if to say "can you believe this guy?" He laughs and turns back to Sanji and rolls his eyes. "So? Are you going to put on an apron and make me a victory meal when it's over?"

Sanji shakes his head. "Cooks … They play with fire."

And then, to Zoro's surprise, Sanji pulls out a lighter. He doesn't know where it's from and he knows it's not allowed at school, even if the rules of the school are very blurry to him. What is he doing? He'll get them in trouble and Zoro's in the largest space he's ever been in since he came to the Baratie. Is he going to be sent back inside? He doesn't want to go back inside.

The boy steps back. "You … you can't have one of those."

"I know," says Sanji and Zoro can see the evil look in Sanji's eyes. "But you won't tell anyone, right?" He grins and in his other hand he holds up a knife. It's a butterknife that's for the bento that Zeff made them (he left it on the counter with a note for whose was whose) but it gleams underneath the fire. "Because cooks know how to use knives too."

The boy gulps for the first time.

"You won't tell anyone, right?" Sanji's voice is layered with sweetness, but there's an underlying tone of a threat looming over the boys' heads.

Both boys nod and the tension in the air is palpable. Then, after one last look at the lighter and knife, they run.

Zoro grumbles that he doesn't need protection but Sanji shakes his head. "I'm just taking care of you, like you asked."

Zoro doesn't ask Sanji where he got the knife or the lighter, but he just nods.

He supposes he's in shock over it all.

* * *

Zoro sits alone at his desk during lunch. That is, until there's a thud on his desk and he looks up to see Sanji.

Sanji sits down without a word and starts to eat his lunch. Zoro doesn't question it, he can tell Sanji doesn't want to talk about something. He can hear snickers from the surrounding kids and wonders if Sanji's been made fun of for defending him. He feels bad.

He gives him a piece of his lunch as a peace offering and when Sanji takes it (albeit hesitantly, as if Zoro's poisoned it or something) he feels like they're making progress. Maybe they can be friends.

* * *

Zeff asks them how their day goes.

"Not as bad as I thought," says Sanji, looking in Zoro's direction for a moment before looking away.

Zoro grunts.

Sanji doesn't have to know he's agreeing with him.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2:** Okay the thank-yous, and I'm losing track of who favorites/follows so you know what? I'll just thank everyone at the end. Yet another thing you gotta remind me to do. Now for the reviews!_

 _HollyWoodFix (x2): I'll be looking forward to your review to this chapter then. Actually, part of what inspired this story was a picture of children Straw-Hats with the title "Off to make Luffy king of the playground!" and I was like, "YES!" I played around with ages a lot, but Ace (for some reason) is still 3 years older than Luffy. I was writing how Sanji would wake him up and thinking, "Okay, what if he kissed him?" but then I was like, "Eww, they're 8 and Sanji JUST complained about not wanting his first kiss to be with Zoro so no way is that happening!" but I was like, "Something awkwardly intimate ..." and yeah, he licked his face. I'm doing a couple of things I don't like, including having younger people get into relationships, there will be underage sex. Sorry. And Zoro's way of bowing in front of Sanji is burned into my brain and it's the cutest thing EVER._

 _lilcutieprincess (x4): I changed Sanji the most when he's a kid (mainly cause he seemed like brat before he got stranded and since he never gets stranded in this story, it's going to take him a while to grow up). The thing is that's why Zoro go mad at Sanji at the beginning, right? Why he told him to shut up, but then Zoro realized if he explained it to Sanji, he'd have to tell him about Kuina and he doesn't want to do that. Not yet at least. For Zoro, it was kind of like I saw him as a cry-baby, but I think Kuina's death hardened him, so that's why he was crying at the beginning._

 _Shizuka Taiyou (x2): Probably. Except I wrote this and forgot that the school could potentially call Zeff. I think the teacher sees it as squabble and won't tell Zeff. But oh yeah, Sanji's going to kick himself (literally, I love making these horrible jokes) when he realizes the meaning._

 _Hope Sanji made it up to you guys! Now I'm trying to think of a way to get more reviews ... if you review to every chapter then ... I'll do something. I've already said I'll write a story for anyone who reviews to the last chapter (by sticking through the whole thing) and that means at least 24 new stories from me when this is all over (the amount of reviews, I'm still getting reviews for **Beautiful Disaster,** which I'm not complaining about, I'm really happy it was such a success). _

_Here's a weird question: can any of you draw? I've heard of authors who have others draw fanart of their stories. Is it too much to ask if any of you could draw something for any of my stuff? I like appreciating different forms of talent. Frig, I just realized how many frigging chapter questions I've gotta ask. Okay uh ..._

 _There are tons of pairings in this story. Care to guess them?_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note #1:** Okay, so to explain Koshiro here ... I looked him up because you know, he's not a very common character, and it said he was a very traditionalist person who believed girls were weak, so that explains Zoro's behavior. I tried to not make him an asshole since he's Zoro's mentor but being a girl myself, I think he's an asshole. I don't own **One Piece.** Fair warning for those of you who are waiting for teenage years, it will take a while. Zoro and Sanji have to go through a lot of firsts/adjusting before they're able to have a few time-skips. Any of you guys watch sports animes? I've started re-watching **Haikyuu** , which is hardly fair since I never got to season 2. The problem with sports animes: they make me want to be athletic and I'm not, so I start wheezing. On top of that, I play volleyball myself so I get EXTRA into it and I bought some **Haikyuu** posters that are now on my lovely door. I wrote a **Haikyuu** story for those who want to check it out called **Dethroned**. Those boys are too innocent, they make me feel bad for reading smut about them._

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Seven

* * *

It's been two weeks since Zoro has moved in and Sanji when they walk in after another day of school, Zoro drops his bag and stops talking, merely staring in front of him.

There's a strange man inside their house who Sanji does not know.

Zoro looks conflicted, as though he wants to run into the man's arms and hug him but at the same time he wants him burnt alive. Zoro takes a step back, something Sanji's learnt is something Zoro does when he gets defensive. If he watches Zoro's feet, it's not that he's backing away, he's preparing a stance. A stance to fight.

"Zoro, I came to see you," says the man with the ponytail.

"I'm not giving it back," says Zoro hoarsely and Sanji has no idea what he's talking about.

"I don't want it back," says the man. "I just wanted to see you. It's been a while, yes?"

Zoro blinks and he relaxes slightly. "Yeah."

Sanji asks the question everyone's wondering aloud. "Who is he?"

Zeff and Zoro both glare at him and he realizes perhaps it's only him who doesn't know who this man is.

The man walks up to Sanji and gets down on his knees in front of him. "And you would be Zeff's son, Sanji, am I right?"

"Who are you?" repeats Sanji.

"I'm Koshiro," says the man patiently. "I'm Zoro's sensei."

"Sensei?" Sanji repeats. "You're the one who taught him?" Sanji laughs. "He's pretty stupid, I don't think you did that good of a job."

Koshiro laughs. "He always was a bit slow," he says. He turns to Zoro and pats him on the head. "I just wanted to check in, make sure you were okay."

"Why wouldn't he be?" Sure, Sanji's been kind of mean to Zoro but that's over with now, right? There's no reason to take Zoro away because Sanji may have misbehaved a bit. He strangely does not want Zoro to go away. He barged into his life and now he's stuck there, kind of like a fly in a spider's web, Sanji's life is the web and Zoro's the fly and technically he knows the only way to get rid of flies in a spider web is to eat them he doesn't want to eat Zoro (he probably doesn't taste good) so Sanji will just leave him there. Annoying, but not too troublesome.

Something dark comes over Koshiro's face, the same look Sanji remembers Zoro wearing the first time he met him. "Has something bad happened?"

Zoro tenses. "I'll come by eventually," he says.

Sanji's confused. Where would he go? For what reason?

"Sanji, would you go to your room please?" asks Zeff.

Sanji doesn't like being left out. He stomps away but at the last second, he stops. He's in the hall, heading to his room when he presses himself up against the wall like he's seen the spies do in all the cool action movies. Maybe he should have a code name too. That would be cool. What should he call himself? Agent Smoke-Bomb, to go with Vinsmoke maybe? Nah,—

"Have you been practicing?"

Right, he can't focus on his cool code name that everyone will be jealous of when he declares it— oh wait, you're not supposed to tell people, are you? Well—

"No."

Right, focus, concentrate now, spy stuff later.

"Why not?" asks Koshiro.

"No room," says Zoro.

"That's never stopped you before." There's a pause. "Have used it?"

What the heck are they talking about? Sanji thinks they're playing a game, a game where they infuriate him by making him guess what they're talking about. Clearly they know what they're talking about but Sanji doesn't and the fact that they don't bother to explain it to him (even if he is eavesdropping) is rude, because you always have to be polite as Zeff has taught him. Now that he thinks about it, Zeff's being pretty rude too. They should directly address what they're talking about for the sake of the one eavesdropping whether they know he's there or not (which he hopes is not because he might want to be a ninja when he grows up and if he gets caught he doesn't think they'll let him into the academy.

"No."

"I gave it to you for a reason—"

"Because I asked." Zoro shakes his head. "And you gave it to me because it was hers."

Hers? Who is she? Does Zoro have a girlfriend? Part of Sanji is jealous, he wants to be the first one to get a girlfriend.

"Yes, because—"

"Because you didn't think she could do it." Zoro sounds pretty upset. Sanji wonders if he's crying, but he doesn't think so. Zoro hasn't cried since he first came. "You killed her."

Sanji gulps. Okay, not a girlfriend then.

"Zoro, we went over this—"

"If she wasn't trying to prove herself to you, it wouldn't have happened."

Koshiro is silent as is Zeff. Sanji stays as still as he possibly can. He can't be found out.

"Zoro, we're both upset about it—"

"Hardly!" Zoro snaps. "Life is fragile? It wasn't even a day before you gave Wado away."

"To you," Koshiro says as though this makes everything better. What the heck is Wado? "I'm honouring her memory, I'm—"

"You're letting me take it because I'm a boy," Zoro says. "Because you want an heir."

Air? What does air have to do with anything?

"I want you to use it in her memory," says Koshiro. "Are you going to come by to train with me?"

"You're not good enough to look after me, remember?" Zoro says. He's trembling, like he's mad, but at the same time doesn't like being mad at this man. "That's why I'm here."

Koshiro is silent for a moment. Then—

"Do you like it here?"

There's more silence and Sanji realizes he really wants to know the answer. Because he's come to not mind Zoro too much, even if he wears mismatched socks, leaves towels on the floor and still drags Sanji into fights every day because people still think he's weird and Zoro asked him to take care of him and Sanji keeps his promises. And then he realizes he's never actually promised to look after Zoro. But he'll do it anyway because he's already started so there's no point in quitting when he's just started, right?

But Zoro's answer means more than whether or not he likes where he sleeps now, more than if he doesn't mind living above a noisy kitchen, more than if he can eat Zeff's food. Because liking and tolerating mean two different things and more than anything Sanji wants to know if Zoro's still tolerating him, or if he likes him. If he likes that Sanji's his roommate, that they go to school together every day, that they walk home together, that they share a desk, that they are with each other more or less twenty-four seven.

Sanji holds his breath—

"Give me just a moment," says Zeff.

Sanji panics. He can hear Zeff's footsteps, his peg-leg and he rushes to the closet, shutting himself inside. Zeff taps on it not seconds later.

"I know you're in there."

Sanji keeps quiet.

The doors are forcefully pried open by Zeff.

Sanji squeaks.

"Come on Eggplant," he says and grabbing Sanji by the scuff of his shirt, he drags him into his room and closes the door.

Now Sanji's never going to know the answer.

Zoro marches into the room with purpose a few minutes later, glaring at him.

"You were listening."

"No I wasn't."

"Don't lie, an elephant on rollerblades is sneakier than you."

Well good-bye ninja school.

"I didn't hear much," Sanji says instead. He doesn't like that he didn't get to hear what Zoro thinks of the place. "I mean, if we're going to be stuck together like this for the rest of our lives, the least you can do is tell me who died."

Zoro's jaw clenches. "Stuck?" he repeats.

"Well yeah, I mean—"

 _SLAM!_

The bedroom door is shut abruptly by Zoro and Sanji is left sitting on his bed in shock.

What did he say?

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : So the thank-yous! I would kind of like 5 reviews per chapter, though I know it's not that easy since right now I'm updating so weirdly. Don't worry (or worry) it'll take longer to update from now on since I don't have pre-written chapters and school will be coming up. I KNOW YOU GUYS CAN DO IT! **Foot in Your Mouth** has 12 reviews for chapter 3! Like seriously guys. I don't want to be a bitch and be ungrateful especially since people are reviewing to a story with no smut (yet) and no real romance (yet), but still ... I'm putting my heart and soul into this, it might be my biggest accomplishment. Anyway, review while you love me because you'll hate me eventually. Either for the length, where the story goes, the slow-burn, or all three._

 _Shizuka Taiyou: Yeah. I was writing that line about how Zoro's hair was weird and then was like, "uh ... wait, Sanji's blond ... And Japanese ... yeah, they should punch him too." I do have other pairings, and there's a lot of them. AND I kinda dedicate certain chapters towards certain pairings every now and then._

 _lilcutieprincess : Just curious, why do people assume Ace is gay? Like, I know I like him with Smoker, but still ... Why is he gay? I don't even know why I like, oh yeah, rivalry. Sabo is adorable. I met him a few weeks ago (stopped RIGHT before the time-skip officially started/new art/new styles since my friend's trying to catch up to me, which will take till SEPTEMBER! ARGH! And then he'll only get to the time-skip and nothing past it cause he just can't read subs!)._

 _HollyWoodFix : No, do you have any idea how much shotacon disgusts me? I hate dubconsent, it makes me itch. Like, I'm all about communication, no matter how awkward it must be. Honestly I think high school AUs are the most cliché things EVER, but I like them all the same. If they're done well. But no seriously, consent and communication is something I adore. Okay, admission time: never had a boyfriend before and I'm writing all about love. Wonder what'll happen when I actually fall in love? With something that isn't a fictional character. Fictional is so much better than real life. I'm at the age I find acceptable to have a boyfriend, even if I don't. Like, when you're 12 what does dating even mean? You hold my hand, we're together, we're not holding hands, we've broken up? Like what can you do when you're 12?! But yeah, when I hear about 12 year olds or 13 year olds having boyfriends I'm just like, "What?" And Lauren Miracle wrote a whole book about going from like eleven to sixteen and I picked up 15, cause I thought that's a reasonable age to have a boyfriend at but the girl's already had one when she was like 13 and I'm like, "HELL NO!" I don't know, maybe I'm traditionalist or something. I mean I don't really think about saving yourself till marriage or whatever, but like kids use to stand at opposite ends of a gym at dances, now they're twerking. I feel so old when I say that. Wow this went onto a rant. I think I heard someone explain Ace and Vivi because Vivi is an honorary Straw Hat and everyone loves Ace, so they just put them together. I don't know. Don't ask me to explain others when I can't even explain myself._

 ** _So ... question of the chapter: do you guys know what Sanji did to piss Zoro off? AND NO ONE WAS GOING TO COMMENT ABOUT ZORO BITING SOMEONE?!_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note #1:** Okay before I begin, and before I even state that I don't own **One Piece** (well, that's done already), I want to address a review I got. The one who wrote "grow up" as their username I want to tell you something. I ask for reviews or "beg" as you put it and I won't deny I did, because I want to know opinions. I have a weird updating schedule that goes at times when I feel like it. I want to know I've done well and if that makes me 3 years old, then that's fine. And I'll tell you something else: I do not write so I can get reviews and kudos, I write because I love it, because its liberating, because it's the only thing I'm good at. I write because it's my passion, because it's a hobby, because when people ask me who I am, I say I'm a writer, because I define myself by the stories I write, because I put my heart and soul into every word you see. I write because it's what I'm good at and what I love and yes, I get responses and I enjoy getting responses because as someone with low self-esteem, knowing that others read and like my stuff gives me will-power to keep posting. I do it for the people who read my stuff, I write because it's WHO I AM. I do it, by extension to get a response because yes, I want a story to be told, but why don't I just scream it out loud to someone I know in the street? I do it the way I do because I want others to enjoy it, because I want to know that they enjoy it. Honestly, I wouldn't be so pissed at you if you just told me that I'm juvenile for asking for reviews, I'm not that sensitive, but don't you DARE tell me I'm not a writer. Because I've been writing for nearly a decade, working stories and doing it because I WANT TO, because it DEFINES ME, and for you to tell me that I'm not a writer just because I want to hear from the people who read my stuff discredits me, and it disrespects every single author on this site. Now that that's out of my system, I'll move on. What Zeff says his secret ingredient is, is something my mother always tells me when I ask her why her food tastes so good._

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Eight

* * *

A few days pass and Zoro's acting mean. Well, more mean than usual. This can only mean Sanji's done something wrong but he can't figure out what.

"Are you mad?" asks Sanji during lunch one day at school.

"Yes."

Well at least Zoro is honest. Sanji feels a bit bad, since his first instinct when Zoro first asked him that was to lie. Maybe Zoro's a better person than he is.

"How do you apologize?" he asks Zeff when he comes back from school and Zoro is back to sleeping. Zoro sleeps to much in his opinion. He could be doing anything, including practicing whatever it was that Koshiro mentioned, but he's not. He's being lazy and sleeping.

Zeff looks taken aback by his question. "What did you do?"

"I don't know."

"Then figure it out," says Zeff. "The way you apologize is the same way you screwed up, sincerely and honestly." While Sanji thinks this must be something very deep and philosophical that Zeff has just said, he also feels like he's just been called stupid.

"But what if I can't?" asks Sanji.

"Then he'll be mad at you forever."

Sanji stares at Zeff in horror. He doesn't like the idea of Zoro being forever mad at him, for more reasons than just because he looks scary when he gets mad. "Please, you have to help me!" says Sanji. "What if he kills me in my sleep because he's so mad?"

Zeff rolls his eyes. He wonders how his child ended up so melodramatic. "When did he start acting upset?"

Sanji thinks about it. "I think it was the day Koshiro came."

Zeff nods. "He's mad that you were eavesdropping?"

"No, I don't think so," Sanji says. "He sounded a bit upset, but not mad. It was after that …" He pauses. And then he remembers.

 _"I didn't hear much. I mean, if we're going to be stuck together like this for the rest of our lives, the least you can do is tell me who died."_

 _"Stuck?"_

The moment replays in his head and all sorts of things he didn't notice in the moment come to him.

He now sees the way Zoro tenses when he says the word "stuck". He realizes the way Zoro freezes when he repeats it. He realizes Zoro repeated after him in disbelief, that it was after Sanji confirmed it that Zoro stormed off.

"Oh."

Zeff nods. Seems Sanji gets it.

Sanji feels really bad about it. He doesn't like feeling this way.

"How do I fix it?" he asks.

Zeff shrugs and leaves Sanji standing there feeling bad and worried that Zoro will finally unsheathe that sword and cut off his head.

* * *

How does one apologize?

When you upset someone, you make them sad. So to make them better you have to make them happy. Sanji frowns. He's never seen Zoro be happy before. It's almost like Zoro has a permanent frown on his face.

What does Zoro like?

Sanji doesn't know.

He knows Zoro is protective of his sword but Sanji doesn't know anything about swords and besides, if he so much as touches it he doesn't want to know how bad Zoro's reaction will be. Besides, he's already upset enough.

How does Zeff make him feel better?

Usually, if Sanji gets upset, Zeff will make him something good to eat. It distracts Sanji and clears his head so he can only focus on how good the food is, and when it's over he's calmer and can discuss the problem properly.

And Zoro does like Zeff's food …

"Make Zoro food."

Zeff stares at Sanji. "Why do I gotta do it?"

Honestly, is Zeff the child now? "Because Zoro likes your food, idiot!" Sanji rolls hie eyes as if to say "duh!".

Zeff shakes his head. "He's mad at you, not me."

"So?"

"So _you_ make him something."

Sanji thinks about it.

He calls himself a cook because every now and then Zeff will let him prepare someone's meal. That's what a cook is, isn't it? Someone who feeds someone who needs food? But he never cooks for himself and he's never cooked for Zeff before.

"But your food is good," says Sanji. Part of him doesn't want to admit he doesn't think he's good enough to compare to Zeff, doesn't want to admit he doesn't want Zoro to scoff at his efforts.

"Why do you think that is?"

"Practice?" Sanji asks.

"Yes," says Zeff. "And it's made of love."

Sanji gags. "You want me to make Zoro something full of love?" It sounds gross, because it's Zoro and while he doesn't believe in cooties, if they _do_ exist, Zoro probably is covered in them.

Zeff kicks him in the head with his peg leg and Sanji falls to the floor. He doesn't complain, just rubs his head and looks back up at him. "I prepare everything I make with love," says Zeff, "it's a secret ingredient I'm passing on to you, so you'd better treat it well."

Sanji doesn't get it.

"But—"

"Make him some rice or something!" snaps Zeff. "And don't bother me!"

Sanji doubts Zeff makes his meals with love, because if the way he treats Sanji is any indication, it's a harsh love that's hard to see, but is there. It would make the food taste slightly sour, but Zeff's food tastes sweet. Probably because of sugar.

So when Sanji gets his stool and starts making an omelet for Zoro, he adds tons of sugar and worries about what Zoro will say because Sanji's never cooked for someone so personally before and he's not sure if it's any different. All he knows is that he's sweating and worrying and maybe it's leaking into the pan, but he'll pretend that didn't happen and flip it like he's supposed to.

* * *

When he sets it in front of Zoro, the idiot blinks and glares at him like he's trying to kill him or something.

"It's a peace offering," says Sanji.

Zoro stares at it. Then he slowly pokes it with a fork. "What's it covered in?"

"Sugar."

"Do you want me to get a cavity?"

Sanji blinks. He didn't think of that. "No," he says slowly. "Just eat it."

Zoro rolls his eyes. "I don't like sweet things," he says and Sanji's chest falls. "Why's there so much sugar anyway?"

"Cause," says Sanji with a shrug, a bit sheepish, "he told me he makes his food with love, but that can't be true because he's kind of bitter and so is his love, and the food taste sweet, so he has to put a lot of sugar in it. And even if his love is somehow sweet, there's no way I'm giving you my love."

Zoro pokes the egg. When he holds up his fork it practically sparkles with tiny flecks of sugar. "You didn't have to make a yellow heap of sugar."

"It's a sugary egg," says Sanji.

"No, it's sugar and a bit of yolk."

"What's the difference?"

"I'm looking at a mountain of sugar that's been dyed yellow, I can't even tell where the egg is."

Sanji huffs and goes to grab the plate, telling Zoro that if he's so picky, he can make his own food and that's the last time Sanji'll ever make him anything but Zoro grabs the plate at the same time. Sanji tugs it to him, but Zoro tugs back. "Let go, you said you don't like sweet things!"

Zoro shakes his head. "But you gave it to me, it's mine now."

"No it's not, that's not how it works!"

"Yeah, it does," says Zoro. "Finders keepers."

"You didn't find it, I made it."

"I found the plate when I looked down, so it's mine!"

Sanji can tell Zoro's trying to make him feel better that he's pretending he'll eat it because Sanji made it for him, and it doesn't make him feel better. It makes him feel worse that he's forcing Zoro to pretend to be something he's not. He doesn't want Zoro to lie to him. "It's probably bad anyway, give it back," Sanji says.

"One bite?"

Sanji crosses his arms. "Fine. Whatever."

Zoro takes a single bite of the egg and his face puckers into a grimace. Sanji knows it's bad, he can see it plain on Zoro's face. He goes to take the plate away but Zoro stops him again and then (Sanji can not believe Zoro does this) he picks up the plate, tilts his head back and swallows the entire egg in one gulp.

Sanji stares.

Zoro's shivering as if something vile has just gone down his throat (which Sanji supposes is true). All around his mouth are tiny flecks of sugar that didn't make it into his mouth.

And then, Zoro starts coughing. He starts to beat at his chest with his fist, but it doesn't work so Sanji runs to the sink and pours him a glass of water because he can't let Zoro die in front of him, or because of his food or else he'll feel really bad about it, even worse than he did for making Zoro mad. Zoro takes it like a starving man and drinks the entire thing in one gulp.

And then he burps. Loudly.

There's silence between the two of them, as Sanji tries to process what's just happened, and Zoro seems to be in shock at how loudly he's just belched. The next thing that happens is something that Sanji still doesn't understand, because Zoro is weird and strange. The next thing Zoro does is he laughs. It starts off as a chuckle, grows into a snort and then Zoro's fallen off his chair in laughter.

Laughter is contagious and before Sanji knows it, he's laughing too and Zoro almost looks like he's break-dancing on the floor, squirming around as he holds his stomach and laughs, hitting his head against a leg of the table doesn't even deter him.

When Zoro's done, he's using the chair to help him stand back up, slightly dizzy. His cheeks are turning a shade darker as he calms down his breathing, signs of tears in his eyes as he sits back down. His eyes … they're _shining_.

Sanji can do nothing but stare in awe as his own laughter calms down and Zoro steadies himself. It feels good to laugh, even better to laugh with Zoro and he likes his laugh. It's a weird thing to think, but he's been told he has a cute sneeze so it's not the weirdest thing he's ever heard. He wouldn't mind hearing Zoro laugh again.

Zoro licks his lips, getting rid of the last traces of sugar and he scrunches up his nose in disgust but it doesn't feel mean.

"Too sweet," he tells Sanji and without another word Sanji knows he's been forgiven.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2: T** he thank-yous._

 _July's fantasies: I haven't seen you review in a while, so I'm glad you decided to check this story out._

 _HollyWoodFix : There are tons of reasons but Sanji's trying to make up for it._

 _lilcutieprincess : I actually did bite someone in a self-defence class. _

_While I'm so fired up, I've got a question for you all: why do you read? And if you write, why do you write?_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note #1:** This chapter is mainly answers to reviews because it's really short, but it's an important milestone. I'm working out in this story ways that the iconic parts of Zoro and Sanji came to be. So slowly the story will tell you how Sanji started smoking, how Zoro got his piercings, stuff like that. I don't own **One Piece**. I've been reading way too much **Haikyûu** stuff._

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Nine

* * *

Sanji is not a stalker and he can give you many reasons for why he is not one.

One: stalkers are creepy and Sanji isn't creepy, not even a little bit, even if he wants to be when Zoro gets all intimidating

Two: Stalkers are really obsessive and Sanji isn't obsessive, he's just mildly curious

Three: Sanji does not fully understand what the word "stalker" means

So the blond feels no guilt whatever as he presses himself against a tree and rushes after the Marimo who shouldn't be hiding things from him in the first place anyway so he's totally justified.

He watches as Zoro stops in front of the entrance to the strange building. Sanji's seen these types before. They're called … dojos. Right, they're in those samurai films. He watches as Zoro bows in front of the paper screen door and then he enters and Sanji scrambles forward as quietly as he can. He's totally more stealthy than Zoro thinks he is and he can totally do this.

He peers into the dojo— he chuckles to himself, that's such a cool name!— and watches intently.

Zoro is with the man who came to visit him, Koshiro. They both bow at each other and then Koshiro pulls out a sword.

Sanji's breath catches in his throat as Zoro's eyes focus on the blade. Such concentration.

"Did you bring her?" asks Koshiro.

Zoro nods and Sanji realizes that strapped to his waist is that white sword of his. It dawns on him that perhaps it's not just some antique, it's an actual legit katana, one with a sharp blade. Zoro draws his sword and it gleams in the light. It looks beautiful and Sanji is speechless for the first time in his life by something that has no relation to food.

And then Zoro stands kind of funny and he's not sure what's going on but Koshiro is fixing the way he's standing and then—

 _CLINK!_

Metal meets metal, steel meets steel and suddenly both swords are clashing. He watches as Zoro's brow furrows in concentration and he shifts his weight. He pushes forward against Koshiro's blade but the man fights back with equal vigor, no signs of going easy on him. Zoro takes a step back and raises his sword before letting it come down. His grip is firm but at the same time it's not perfect, the weight of the sword is making him wobbly. This goes on for a while until Koshiro puts down his sword.

"Are you sure you don't want to use your usual sword?"

Zoro shakes his head. "I'm using her," he says and Sanji realizes they're referring to the sword. "I'll grow into it, now fight me old man!"

Sanji watches as Zoro fights through the entire lesson and something dawns on him.

Zoro is _really_ cool.

* * *

"Teach me how to fight."

Zeff stares at Sanji. Did he really say something that was weird?

"You can't fight," says Zeff.

Is he underestimating him? Because Sanji doesn't like to be underestimated, that's an insult towards him and he does not find it enjoyable. Sanji'll teach him to underestimate him. If he can learn to fight, the first person whose ass he's kicking — ass, it's a bad word … He likes to say it— is going to be Zeff's for underestimating him. Or maybe it'll be Zoro for using his toothbrush _again_. Yeah, Zoro has to die first, then Zeff.

"You're a cook, if you ever hurt yourself how are you going to feed people?"

"You're missing a leg, old man!" whines Sanji. "Why can't I fight?"

"If I ever taught you how to fight, you'd start fighting with the customers. I know you, Eggplant," says Zeff, crossing his arms.

Sanji clenches his fists and glares. Impulsively out of rage, he kicks Zeff. Hard.

Zeff flinches slightly which is a big accomplishment because it's Zeff and Zeff never gets overwhelmed or scared or even caught off guard. Sanji is quite proud of himself.

If he can't damage his hands, he'll just use his legs. That way he'll be as strong as Zoro and he won't even have to copy him. He'll make his own strength and then he'll be as cool as Zoro.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2:** So first of all, I just want to say that the review affected me way more than I would've liked it to and your reviews made me feel much better. Don't even ask me why I took it so personally, I've got not clue but you guys really helped me get out of that dark hole of questioned whether or not I should even write. My love for writing has out-weighed my mild-depression over that comment. Now to thank you all:_

 _Shizuka Taiyou: Yeah, I was like, well Sanji's not going to put his love into his meal, he doesn't know how to do that, nor does he understand it and then I was like, let's just make him take the childish route and then I realized Zoro hates sweet things and it turned out that way._

 _shinxshin1595: I don't think I write the best, but thank you for the compliment. Part of me wants to keep that review, just so that I know I've overcome it. Does that even make sense?_

 _Roronoa22 :I don't think you understand how much I appreciate your review. To know that someone who writes at the degree that you do thinks of my work as good, it's amazing. So thank you, more than me. I really am glad you decided I was worth a review and I can't even describe how glad I am that you have that sort of opinion of me._

 _HollyWoodFix : Yeah, I'm trying to make it really cute. It gets really dramatic, but so long as they are children they are fine. You will miss these happy times later on. Don't worry, this childhood will last for a while._

 _lilcutieprincess : Thank you for your review, and I'm glad you find my stories interesting._

 _Megenehason ZOSAN-LAWLU LOVER (x3 ): They are coming, I swear other characters are coming. I like to deal with a small cast so I don't lose characterization, but they will come and it'll be awesome (hopefully) and they will insert themselves. I've worked out their entire lives. And by that I mean we're following like two decades of their life. It's a long story and hopefully you'll stick around for all of it, even though I know it'll be really frustrating at points._

 _emina125 : Thank you. I hope you don't regret it, cause it does get pretty heavy eventually._

 _leon-andrew: Thank you. Really. I always worry about characterization and sometimes the reasons I can't write aren't because I've got nothing, it's cause I just can't figure out how to make them more like they originally are because, I always say that the characters we love are the ones who are grumpy and who fawn over girls and stuff, not the cheesy people we make them. So I try to keep them as originally as I possibly can._

 _I'll tell you now why I read: I read because it's an escape, a place where I can be bigger than I am, it's a world that I can never truly breach but feel as though I'm a part of it anyway. I love the way I can be transported into a different universe with words alone, and part of the reason I write is because I want to see if I can give people that same feeling because it's the most amazing feeling in the world to be so wrapped up in a story that you feel everything and lose all sense of reality and to know I can cause that (if I can) is all I aim for._

 _Now for the question: Have any of you read my other stories? If so, which one did you read first? And if this is your first story you've read by me, how are you liking it so far?_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note #1**_ _: So I owe you guys since that last chapter was so short and I was excited to get more people involved in the story. Watching Luffy's memories were a painful experience for me, full of bittersweet joy, because first of all, Ace and Luffy make ADORABLE children, and second of all, right after Ace's death to show me something like that just ... No. Don't do that to me. I don't own_ _ **One Piece**_ _. I just remembered eight year old Luffy, and what he said about being alone and how it hurts so much more than anything Ace can do to him and how he just wanted to be friends. I took the fact that in the actual story, Luffy seems to basically kidnap all his members (minus Brook, Brooke? Do I spell it with an e? Or not?) and they eventually grow to like him, or he's won them over some how, but they never really want to be his crewmate but then they cave in. So I considered the appearances going in the order they join the crew, but that didn't happen since Zoro was first and Sanji was technically fourth (or fifth, if you count Luffy). I decided to start off slow, I think out of everyone I got Luffy the most in-character, since we actually know what he was like at 8 years old. Exactly 8 years old. So most people have been brought down to Luffy's age (if they're part of the Straw Hats), so Nami and Robin would become younger, they would be 8 (wow... We also know what Robin was like at eight ... I'm gonna make her a bit more cheerful if you don't mind, I don't like seeing children cry, Luffy has torn out my heart too many times that way), instead of Nami being technically (if we were to keep the age difference but change the original ages) 9, and technically, Luffy should be 6 cause Zoro and Sanji are canonically 2 years older than him. I kept that Beautiful Disaster, but since they go to school now the only way to keep them so close is to make them the same age. Don't hate me for it, I'm sure tons of people have forgotten there's even an age difference between Nami, Zoro, Sanji and Luffy. Once again, this chapter might be made up of a lot of author's notes. Sorry about that._

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Ten

* * *

There is a strange person sitting in front of him.

Zoro is minding his own business, drawing patterns in the dirt with his shoe when some … munchkin with a red shirt and a straw hat sits in front him on the ground, destroying his beautiful picture of a stick-figure Sanji with his weird eyebrows.

"Hi."

Zoro knows Sanji will be out soon, he just decided to help the teacher with something so now Zoro's got no one to play with (not that he really plays with Sanji since the blond will just talk his ear off about the latest recipe he's learnt) and he's all alone, which he's fine with. Until this guy in the straw hat sits on his beautiful masterpiece that should go in that really fancy museum in Paris or something like that.

"Get off my art."

Unlike the others, this boy does not get intimidated. Zoro's eye twitches. Instead of apologizing, the boy shifts himself slightly and stares at the now smothered art. He frowns. "This is really bad art," he says.

"Shut up." Zoro likes to say words he's not supposed to.

"You should do it like this!" The boy takes his finger and digs it deep into the dirt and draws …

"What the heck is that supposed to be?"

"You can't tell?" he looks slightly put out.

"It looks like a weird fish."

"Yeah, you got it!" He's grinning really widely and Zoro thinks his teeth are too white and his smile too big. "It's a fish man!"

"That's not what a fish man looks like."

"Have you ever seen a fish man?"

"No—"

"Then—"

"Doesn't mean I don't know what one looks like."

The boy tilts his head to the side and the string underneath his chin is doing a poor job of keeping the hat on his head. It's too big on him. "That doesn't make sense."

"You don't make sense."

The boy grins. "But isn't it funner that way?"

Zoro rolls his eyes. "Go away."

The boy doesn't move. Instead he stares at the picture that he ruined by sitting on it. "Is this a person?"

"I don't have to tell you."

"I'm right, right?" asks the boy with a grin.

"Whatever."

"You have green hair."

"And you have dark hair." Zoro rolls his eyes. "Don't you have friends to hang out with?"

"No," says the boy. "My brother isn't around. He's so cool, but he's older than me so his recess is at a different time." He frowns. "I don't like being alone."

Zoro raises an eyebrow. It seems weird that the boy is frowning.

"Hey, can you help me become king?"

"King?"

"Of the playground," says the boy with that goofy grin back on his face.

"I don't even know you."

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," says the boy. "Now we know each other."

"You don't know my name," Zoro points out.

"So tell me it."

"Like heck I will." He turns around but the boy— Monkey D. Luffy— does not stop. He follows him and laughs.

"Why don't you smile?" He grabs the sides of Zoro's mouth much to his annoyance and pulls. Zoro gets ready to bite him when—

"Oi, Marimo, what's going on?"

Luffy and Zoro turn to see Sanji running towards them and Zoro can't help but let his lips curl up a bit at the ends.

"OI!" Luffy is really too loud for Zoro, he can barley handle Sanji. "You're him!"

"What?"

"This grass head drew you!" says Luffy, pointing towards the smudged picture.

"That doesn't look a thing like me," says Sanji with a frown. "And why the heck were you drawing me?"

"Shut up," Zoro snaps. It's not like it really matters that he may have thought that the Sanji in the picture would come to life and keep him company. Because he didn't think that and he's a mature eight year old so there's no way something that stupid came to his mind.

"You've got weird eyebrows," says Luffy.

"Aren't you in my class?" Sanji tilts his head to the side. "Luffy, right?"

"Yup!"

"You haven't been in school for the past week. What happened?"

"Broke my finger," says Luffy proudly, holding it out to show. There's a tiny band-aid on it.

"It's not broken," says Zoro, rolling his eyes. "Are you stupid?"

"You're mean!" says Luffy. "You can make it up to me if you help me rule the playground though."

Sanji stares at him. "What's he talking about?"

"He wants to be king, or something," says Zoro. "He's weird."

"Because it's boring to be normal!" pipes up Luffy with a huge grin on his face. "So …?"

"So what?"

"So will you help me be king of the playground?"

"What if I say no?" asks Zoro.

"Doesn't matter, I'll make you join my crew anyway."

"Crew?" repeats Sanji.

"Yeah, like a pirate ship!" Luffy laughs. It sounds weird, like " _shishishi_ ". "So?"

Zoro and Sanji look at each other. "We don't really have a choice, do we?"

"Nope," says Luffy, popping the p.

Sanji shrugs, as though being asked to join a crew of pirates to make some kid with a straw hat the king of the playground is a normal thing and fake-salutes Luffy. "Aye aye Captain!"

Zoro sighs. He doesn't really have any friends other than Sanji, so he supposes he may as well. "I get to be first mate!"

"Great! First order of business," says Luffy in a dead serious voice, turning to Zoro. "What's your name?"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : The thank-yous!_

 _SaKyDaNy : Hello! I don't think I ever saw you review to the last chapter of **Beautiful Disaster**. If you ever decide to do it, I send you a personalized message for your remarks on the story and to thank you for reading the entire long thing. Funny thing, I wrote **Beautiful Disaster** faster than I had written anything, in about four months, while I couldn't touch my original story for 6 months because I was getting so fed up with it (I had so many plot holes I was re-writing it for perhaps the 15th time). I'm happy you read stories that are not in your native tongue, which I always try to do but I get frustrated. I speak French (as you might know from how I made Zoro speak French, but I think I screwed up the whole language ... I can speak it, not really write it very well) and I always tell myself I'll practice French by reading some of it, but I never do because I'm always too anxious I'll stumble across something I don't know and I don't know how some words translate and stuff. I feel kinda stupid when I'm like, "I know how to speak French" and then I realize I can't remember how to say something so simple like "elevator". _

_Shizuka Taiyou : Yeah. I swear Sanji was SO AWESOME when he first got introduced, fighting with Fullbody and how they were like, "Sanji's fighting again" and I was like, "AGAIN? HE DOES THIS ON A REGULAR BASIS? WHO IS THIS BADASS?!". All Straw Hats are awesome when they first get introduced, but I think Sanji's and Brook's were some of the best introductions, since Robin and Franky were both introduced negatively at the beginning. I seriously don't understand why he doesn't have a thousand girls on his arm, he totally should. He's amazing and every now and then, he's actually smooth. And this whole story is about growing up, so yeah, he'll fight. Eventually. They've got some growing up to do._

 _leon-andrew : Yeah, he's totally gonna beat himself up over it. Wow ... I did not expecting so much sharing. I'm willing to hear anything you're willing to tell me, so I'm not judging you right now. In fact, I think you're brave to tell an almost complete stranger such a big thing. That story was called **Speechless** , and it's not finished. I'm finishing it up in September, I have the whole ending planned, but Escort Me got in the way cause I got too psyched up about that. _

**_Question of the chapter: Soooooooo... What do you guys think of Luffy? He's adorable really._**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note #1:** So I'm going off to Washington soon and won't be back for a week. This is to make up for that. Also, **Speechless** will start getting weekly updates once I'm back, so I can finish it off. I don't own **One Piece, Haikyuūu** is distracting me so much, I'm writing small one-shots in between and I know I can't because I've got so much else I gotta get sorted out but anyway ... Moving on, I do like Nami. Like, I don't mind her. But I wanted to do this because Sanji's stupid and a jealous 8 year old Zoro is adorable._

* * *

 _ **if my heart was a house  
**_ _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

* * *

Girls are icky and weird. Well, girls other than _her_ are icky and weird. So when the girl with the orange hair asks him what he's doing hiding in the bushes with a stick held tightly in his hand he tries to hit her with it.

He regrets it. She's violent. He's pretty sure all girls are.

She pulls him by the scruff of his shirt, even though Zoro's pretty sure he's twice her size and dumps him in front of Luffy and Sanji.

"Did you lose an idiot?"

Then Sanji does something really weird.

His eyes get all big and huge (bigger than usual because Zoro personally thinks that Sanji just naturally has really big eyes) and his body lurches forwards, almost like he's ready to puke. He opens his mouth and non-existent words come tumbling out in rapid succession and he doesn't sound like Sanji at all.

Zoro thinks the orange haired girl broke him. He's not very happy about that. Whether or not Zoro has made the decision to call Sanji his friend does not matter, because even if he's unsure about that, he has to admit that Sanji _is_ his roommate and Zeff is a highly protective person who will not be pleased to know that this little girl's made his son stupid.

"Namiiiii!" whines Luffy. "You ruined the game!" He grins widely. "Wanna join my crew to make it up to—"

 _THUD!_

Zoro stares. Luffy has just been pushed down onto the ground. So not only has this girl turned Sanji's brain into glue (which is dangerous since Sanji usually acts like half of an idiot on most days and he can't function as a whole idiot, otherwise he'll be brain dead), she's also violent. Very violent.

"I'm not joining your crew," says the girl, or Nami, Zoro supposes she must be called. What else can he call her? Something insulting, something really bad. She's such a … such a … witch! That's it. And Zoro's pretty sure he's grinning kind of stupidly at having come up with such an ingenious name for her. _I'm insulting you and you don't even know it!_ Zoro realizes quite quickly it's not fun to insult people if they're not even going to react. All of these thoughts occur a few seconds away from each other and then Sanji's doing more stupid things, like— oh dear Lord, is he bowing?

"Hello, My Lady," says Sanji. It's almost as if he's gotten his composure back together, but not really because now he's talking all weird, trying to make his voice lower or whatever.

"He's broken," says Zoro. He doesn't really think having a broken person sharing a room with him will be any good.

"No I'm not, Marimo!" snaps Sanji and for a second Zoro thinks he's been cured but then he goes back to doing stupid things while making weird faces at the girl.

Zoro can already tell this is going to be a long day.

* * *

"What do you think of Nami?"

"She's violent," says Zoro.

"Isn't she pretty?"

"Pretty ugly, I guess."

"Take that back!" snaps Sanji, raising his hand to hit him. Zoro raises an eyebrow at him. They both know that he can't hit him, if he does, even the slightest bruise might make him useless in the kitchen. Plus, Zoro has a really hard head. Maybe Sanji'll break his whole hand. So instead he kicks him.

Zoro can't help but wince. Does he have legs of steel or something?

Zoro doesn't like Nami. She's taking up Sanji's time and he's acting stupid. Zoro realizes that until now, he's never had to share Sanji. Not really, since Luffy always kind of shoved himself into their games so now it's weird. He doesn't like sharing Sanji.

* * *

"Zeff, what does it mean when you want to hurt someone?"

Zeff stares at the small eight year old with the green hair. "What?"

"Like … when they get near Sanji I want to push them. It feels different from when I want to fight for fun," says Zoro simply.

"Who do you want to push?" asks Zeff.

"Nami."

Something dawns in Zeff's eyes and he crouches down to Zoro's level. "You're jealous."

"Jealous?" That doesn't make sense to Zoro, jealous implies he doesn't like Nami because she has something he wants. She just has Sanji's attention and it makes him an idiot, this can't be jealousy.

"Yes, but don't tell anyone, okay? People … people will think it's weird."

"Do you think it's weird?"

Zeff looks at Zoro, at his innocent eyes and tilted head. So young, so ignorant. "No, but others … others'll think it's weird."

Zoro shrugs his shoulders. He doesn't understand adults. Maybe he'll get it when he's older.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2:** The thank-yous!_

 _Shizuka Taiyou: Yeah, didn't figured he had. Sanji IS smooth when he tries, so I don't understand why Nami rejects him. Are you kidding me? Well ... I've noticed he has hairy legs, like it's really random but when he loses parts of his pant leg, or whatever, he's got hairy legs and Zoro's basically hairless._

 _HollyWoodFix (x2 ): Luffy's just ... Luffy. Can't describe him any differently._

 _leon-andrew: Yup._

 _lilcutieprincess (x2) : Thanks! I'm really happy you like me enough to follow me. I consider that a big commitment so thank you! Robin's backstory, we do not talk about it or else I start crying. I was like, "it's going to make me cry, isn't it?" and out of all the back stories (not including Luffy's because everyone cries seeing his back story after Ace dies) Robin and Chopper's made me cry the hardest. I was like, "I can make it through this- Shit, her mother hugged her and now she's going to die, I CAN'T!" And that was exactly what I was aiming for. I was also talking about Sanji's bounty poster and how he totally doesn't think its him, but Luffy does. I think. I can't remember. Water 7 was so long ago and it's my favorite saga, I'd watch it again but I don't think I could live through Merry again._

 _Megenehason ZOSAN-LAWLU LOVER(x2 ): There will be a timeskip, but it comes after 1 full year of Zoro and Sanji living together. There are like, 3 time skips in the whole story. And I like coming up with origin stories for habits and such._

 _SwordsgirlJackie : Thank you! I'm working hard on taking it slow, even if it kills me sometimes too. Don't worry, their teenage years WILL come, but not for a while. And you can expect it to be full of angst to even out the fluff. Probably more angst, now that I think about it._

 _Alright the question! Um ... Hmmm ... what to ask? Where are you guys from? Who reads from where? Like, England? Scotland? Why am I only thinking of the UK? I like you even if you don't have a British accent! Maybe from Australia? Hmmm... I'm just naming places with accents. Peru? Switzerland? Tell me, I wanna know!_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note #1** : So I AM BACK! HELLO EVERYONE, DID YOU MISS ME? I must be that author who is getting on your nerves a lot, aren't I? I start to write again and then like a month later I'm gone and I make a schedule and then break it. So I'll tell you straight up what I'm gonna do: I have this story which I want to write and because it's such a huge project, I've decided to prioritize it (sorry, I know you must not be happy about my schedule) furthermore I'm writing 2 stories at once (I know I shouldn't be doing this, it's what got me in this predicament in the first place). The other story I'm paying a lot of attention to is called **new follower: applepi** and it's on AO3, it's a **Haikyūu!** story so if you've been wondering where I've been, it's been over there. I'm on TUMBLR NOW, I use the same username as here, the blog's at **setkia dot tumblr dot com** and it's called **"the awkward introvert who writes"** who ever wants to know my schedules or when I write a new story (on either AO3 or here, will be notified on here) so follow me! Chat me up, I like talking to you guys! I really do love it! Next thing: I have , which is a thing where artists (of any kind) are paid for their work. So basically, I now do commissions. So even if I do have a lot to do, I am thinking of doing something like that. I don't know prices yet, I'd want to establish them with you but if you look me up on Tumblr, somewhere in my blog the link is there. I don't own **One Piece**. Also I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Big Bang event (I don't know what else to call it). I proposed it for the **Haikyūu!** fandom on my blog, but I also propose it right here and now for **One Piece.** It's a collaboration between a writer and an artist, where the writer writes a story and the artist provides art for it, or vice-versa and a writer writes something based off artwork someone made. So they pair up and work together. You can message me here or on Tumblr if you've got anymore questions._

* * *

 ** _if my heart was a house  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

Zoro's mad at him again but this time Sanji is wiser and knows why.

"You're jealous!"

Zoro tenses stiffly. "What?"

"You're jealous of me!" Sanji laughs as Zoro furrows his brow and frowns.

"Why would I be jealous of you, Curlicue?"

"Because Nami likes me more than she likes you!"

Zoro growls. Sanji's really starting to think he may just be a real animal. "She doesn't like you, idiot. She tolerates you."

"Either way you're jealous," Sanji says with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll find some cute girl for you who doesn't like gorillas."

Zoro doesn't say anything and stares at the sheet of math homework they've been given.

Sanji supposes that's the end of that conversation.

* * *

 _"Come on, just because Nami likes me doesn't mean you have to be jealous."_

Who does Sanji think he is, saying he's jealous? The fact that he's right annoys Zoro even more, so naturally he stomps out during the middle of their conversation and decides to take a long walk away from him for the remaining minutes of recess. With dignity. Because Zoro is a dignified little eight year old.

But to be horribly honest, Zoro doesn't really know what to do with himself. He's still new to the school and he's pretty sure he scares people so he doesn't have that many friends. To be even more honest, he might need someone to guide him. He's left wandering around the playground until he turns a corner and sees the bigger students' soccer field. He may have wandered to the wrong part of the playground.

"Hey losers!"

Zoro's head jerks in the direction he hears the sound. They're not talking about him, right? No, they said "losers" and Zoro's not a loser (no matter what Sanji tells him). Maybe. But he definitely knows he's not two people. So they can't be talking about him.

"Get off our field!"

Zoro can see them if he squints. There are four boys on the soccer field, two of which are bigger than the other ones. He wonders if this is another one of those pathetic "gang up on the and threaten a bit, but don't bite" things but then he watches one of the boys push another down.

"Hey!" yells Zoro across the field.

One of the boys, who Zoro has kindly named Fatty Number One, looks up. "Oi, who the hell are you?"

Well to be honest, Zoro hasn't thought this far ahead in his plan, so he can't really reply, mainly because he doesn't have an answer. At least, not a sensible one.

"Get him for me!" says Fatty Number One, nodding to Zoro.

Zoro needs to think fast, the guy he's kindly named Fatty Number Two is racing down the field, running straight at him. He should've brought Wado. He feels insecure (but only a bit) without her. Well, if the guy charges first, Zoro's going to charge back he supposes.

Zoro runs forward. He's not crossing as much ground but his sudden movement surprises Fatty Number Two, so there's that, he supposes but it doesn't really fix his immediate problem. He doesn't bother to try and dodge him, if he does, they'll both get tired out and nothing good will come out of that. So instead, he keeps going forward and then the boy stops, like he's just waiting for Zoro to reach him.

Zoro keeps going, trying not to focus on anything but his feet on the ground and his target. He supposes his focus is the two smaller boys then. When he feels himself losing his footing he turns his step into a jump and when his foot hits the ground again, he's steady again.

Fatty Number Two is grinning, like he knows just where Zoro's going, what he's going to do.

Then Zoro changes his direction and catches a glimpse of confusion in Fatty Number Two's eyes before he grabs onto the sleeves of the two dumbstruck boys, pushing them back.

Finally he comes to a stop, breathing a bit more heavily than he would like to be.

"Oooh, someone's playing hero," croons Fatty Number One, crossing his arms. He looks more than delighted now that Zoro's joined in. "What's your name, little guy?" he teases.

Zoro grits his teeth.

"I was just showing these guys the laws of the playground. You wanna join their lesson?"

Zoro rolls his eyes and grunts. He's not sure what to do so he supposes he'll just wing-it. He grabs a stray stick on the ground and he can hear Shrimpy Number One and Two breathing deeply behind him, stepping back. The stick feels weird in his hands, the bark rough on the palm of his hand in a way the hilt never is. He tries to think of his next move as the bullies laugh at him.

"Do you think you're some kind of knight?" Fatty Number One asks with a laugh, walking closer to him. He leers down at him. "Where's your shining armour?"

Zoro needs to think fast so he thinks of the only weakness someone bigger than him can have.

He pokes him in the eye with the stick.

"Don't need it," he says. "I'm a pirate."

The boy covers his eye with a hand and turns to his friend, suddenly all worried. "Dude, is it infected? Everything's a bit fuzzy— am I going to be blind?"

Zoro watches as Fatty Number Two picks his friend up with some struggle (there's a reason Zoro calls them Fatty) and then they scramble away, tripping over themselves to go and see the nurse.

He turns around, satisfied, the smallest bit of a grin starting to peek out of him when it stops abruptly when he's met with the unwaveringly intense gazes of the two boys he's just "rescued".

One of them has a weird birthmark on his face, and he's wearing sunglasses, like he thinks he's so cool. The other guy is wearing some weirdly large clothes, that are obviously too big on him.

"Aniki," one of them whispers softly.

Zoro's eyes widen. What has he just gotten himself into?

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : The thank-yous! (Sorry it's long):_

 _kuollu98 : Thank you so much! That's so cool that you're from Finland. Does that mean you get to use that awesome school system they have other there? I'm SOOOO jealous!_

 _SwordsgirlJackie : Yeah, the angst will be coming but I like to try and balance it out with fluff. You've read **Beautiful Disaster** , I believe, so that means you must know about how I do it. Then again, a lot of things are changing for this story. I seem to attract a lot of French readers ... Is it cause I put some French into my stories or am I just appealing to that part of Europe?_

 _Ringochan94 : If you wanna read more of my **Haikyūu**! it's on AO3 under the same name. I'm thinking of putting some of my stories on there too. That's so cool, that people all around the world basically are reading my stuff, I think it's awesome. I'm on Tumblr, if you didn't know. A lot of my posts are about **Haikyūu**! but it's basically just a feed for my stories (when a post a new one and stuff). I wrote something for Yamaguchi's birthday. Turned into more of a brotherly thing for Tsuki and Akiteru, but whatever I guess. And oh my God, FINALLY! Someone who just manages to like all the weird fandoms I like that seems to have no co-relation with each other._

 _HollyWoodFix : Hey there, I'm from Canada, and I love it! Also because at this current moment, we have no snow for once. What province are you from? I actually spent a week in the capital, having some fun learning about law. Made some friends who love anime while I was there. I'm a beacon for nerdy things._

 _leon-andrew: Like Texas? Sorry, I'm horrible at geography. I hope this chapter made you smile too!_

 _Shizuka Taiyou: I don't know, part of me thinks Sanji should be less hairy with the Diable Jambe, shouldn't he be burning off all his leg hair? Sorry I read "Lebanon" as "Laboon" for a second there and got all happily sad. Again, I know more or less nothing about geography, so I'll just have to look it up sometime._

 _SaKyDaNy : Cool! Chile! That's awesome! I try to be funny. I think people laugh more AT me than with me, but I guess it's better than nothing._

 _lilcutieprincess : I can't, I just can't. And my stupid friend who only watches the dub FINALLY saw Luffy's frigging past and then RIGHT BEFORE THE TIME-SKIP, the dub stops. Like ARE YOU KIDDING ME? He says he'll watch subbed once he hits the time-skip, but it's gonna take Funimation like at least 3 months to get him there and I've been waiting since August. The first time I legitly cried in **One Piece** was Chopper and then before writing **Beautiful Disaster** , I went back to the beginning (okay to Sanji's initial entrance, which is why everything before episode 20 is a bit blurry) and then I got teary eyed and then I wondered if I was heartless when I realized I didn't cry the first time around I saw Nami's backstory._

 _Galexis : NO, BUT I NEED SANJI TO MAKE THE STORY! Can you hold off on kidnapping him until after his played his bit? And hold off on cuddling Zoro to death until then too? But you can still cuddle him, just don't strangle him! Next thing: I read a lot of them. They're big names in the ZoSan community so of course I read them. I love **New Neon,** and **StarkBlack**. I've read some of **sevenbridges**. I haven't heard of **allbluechaser** before though. One of my hopes is to become a really reccommended author for ZoSan, making my way up the charts to at least the top 10 authors of the pairing._

 _JustCallMeLucie: HELLO! I noticed you followed me to AO3 as well. Thank you for that! Allow me to explain the tan: Japan has a certain beauty standard and that standard is pale skin, like as pale as the moon, the fact that Zoro is darker skinned (as well as Usopp) is something I really love and after the time-skip, or just in general, as the story progresses, Zoro and Usopp become paler and paler, in order to meet those standards. Zoro's dark skin really shows off in Alabasta, where everything is paler than him, but he becomes pale after the time-skip. Furthermore, Usopp who spends the time-skip on A TROPICAL ISLAND, becomes like a white sheet, which doesn't make sense, unless the anime artists are trying to pander to the fact that Japan prefers people with light skin, like Sanji or Nami. Robin or Vivi are probabaly the best since they're the palest (or at least, they become the palest). Luffy is on a borderline where he's pale, but he's not REALLY pale either so he gets away with it, but my theory is that they want Zoro and Usopp specifically to become paler so that way they look more like the Japanese ideal. That's why they make fun of him for his tan. South Africa? That's where all my friends who travel end up having boyfriends from._

 _I know, I'm sorry my return is mainly full of author notes! Sorry! But my question: so ... do you know who the guys Zoro saved are?_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note #1:** So here's the first thing: I was looking through the outline of this story and realized something. This may just be my finest masterpiece. The other thing that struck me once more, was how much all of you are going to HATE me for the slow build. I don't own **One Piece.** And if you follow me on Tumblr, yes, you'd know I got sucked into **Yuri on Ice**. And I wrote a stupid story for it. That everyone loves. Don't you just love it when you put your heart and soul into something and everyone's like, "meh", but then you put like zero thought into it and in less than 24 hours, it becomes your most popular story? Yeah, I kinda hate that. Just to tell you how stupid it is, I called it " **#yellow"** And how deep am I in this hell hole of ice cold hell? I've been listening to **"History Maker"** on repeat for like 3 solid days, it helps that it's in English. And it's my ring-tone and text-tone._

* * *

 ** _if my heart was a house  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

Zoro, apparently has friends. Friends who are not Sanji.

This is something the blond finds to be very curious, because to be completely honest, Zoro is not a nice person. Though Sanji has come to learn more and more about the Marimo, he has yet to see Zoro act like a relatively pleasant human being. Thus, it's highly confusing when he says he can't play with him during recess because his "friends" are waiting for him.

"What friends?" Sanji asks. Clearly Zoro must be talking about some figment of his imagination because there's no way in all of heck someone would willingly hang out with Zoro, not unless they were forced into it by some kind of weird other-worldly being. Right?

"Friends," is all Zoro says before pushing past him to go and join them.

Sanji may not have completely given up on the whole "ninja school" idea so he follows him and finds that there are two "friends" of Zoro's, who are there. One is wearing sunglasses (probably trying to look cool or whatever) while the other wears clothes too big for his body.

"Aniki!" one of them says when they spot Zoro approaching.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Zoro-aniki!" the other pipes up and says anyway. They're getting a bit on Zoro's nerves, something Sanji thought only he could do. Turns out he's not that special after all.

Zoro grunts and that's the end of the "aniki" discussion.

Sanji watches them "play". They're not really playing, not the way he, Luffy and Nami play. Luffy has them all run around, facing invisible enemies (sometimes real ones, like when he dares to venture to the big kid's area of the playground which makes Sanji think Luffy's got a death wish). They "conquer" land, only to give it back and take what sort of treasures they want (namely an area they can shove a stick into the ground and claim is there's, territory determined by a line drawn in the dirt), until they move on. Not quite the "pirate" Sanji thinks of when the word comes up, but it's still more fun than what Zoro is doing with these two weirdoes. They're really just staring at each other and Zoro's clsoing his eyes and he may or may not be sleeping, Sanji can't quite tell and then one of the boys tries to imitate Zoro but they do it wrong and Zoro corrects them. It's almost like Zoro's their teacher, which is weird, because Sanji's pretty sure Zoro's one of the dumbest people he knows, which means he's not really fit to be a teacher, now is he? But they don't question his authority and Sanji just doesn't get it.

Sanji follows them again the next day. This time Zoro's just watching the two idiots as they swing around sticks, proclaiming honours of being swordsmen. Eventually Zoro gets so fed up with their pretend-play and horrible imitation, he grabs the one with the birthmark on their face's arm and fixes their stance. They wince, probably cause Zoro doesn't know what being gentle means, and then he's teaching them … sword fighting? With sticks?

Sanji almost wants to laugh.

It's on the third day that Luffy approaches Sanji and asks him if he's not playing around anymore with him, if he's givne up on helping him become Playground King. Sanji tells him he hasn't, he just has something he needs to deal with first before he comes back.

Two days is enough time to let Zoro fool around, this time, Sanji's going to get to these two first, before the Marimo.

"Hey!" greets one of them. "I'm Johnny, I've seen you around before. Are you Aniki's friend?"

"Aniki?" Sanji repeats. Oh right. They're talking about Zoro. "Yeah, I'm his friend," he says. "And here's the thing … Z-Aniki, doesn't want to hang out with you anymore."

"What?" asks the other one with a crestfallen look on their face. "What do you mean-"

"I mean what it sounds like I mean. Aniki's tired of you."

"Is he testing us?" asks the one not named Johnny. "Cause I think he's kinda mean."

Sanji isn't mean, at least, he doesn't think he is. He just wants things done in a particular way and he wants Zoro back, so there, he'll do whatever he has to in order to make them give Zoro back.

"Come on, Yosaku," says Johnny, "Let's fight him! We'll use what Aniki taught us!"

Sanji rolls his eyes. Like they've learnt anything remotely good from Zoro. He can admit that maybe Zoro DOES do martial arts and maybe he knows his way around a sword, but at the same time, if there's anything Sanji is certain of, it's that Zoro has no idea how to teach someone anything.

Which is why it's surprising when Johnny and Yosaku come at him and he has to dodge with a bit more effort than he originally thought he'd need. He sidesteps but they come close to hitting him. Johnny has a large branch in his hand, one that's too big for his body but he's still holding it with a certain force and strength. Yosaku has a smaller branch, more of a stick really, but he's holding it with confidence, brandishing it with pride.

Sanji lifts his leg and is about to strike when Johnny and Yosaku let out a collective scream that Sanji doesn't even know how to describe, barralling past him. Johnny hits at his legs, tries to throw him off balance and it always works, but he stabalizes himself, except now Yosaku has a stick at Sanji's throat, leaving Sanji in a weird half-falling position with a lifted leg.

Sanji supposes they're not bad, at least, not bad for people he was expecting nothing from.

In a quick, slightly clumsy movement, he jumps off his other foot and makes it come back around, hitting Johnny in the stomach, and brings his other leg back down, giving Yosaku a slight push in the chest. The two boys fall to the ground.

"Give Zoro back!" Sanji says with purpose.

"But-"

"No buts, give him back!" Sanji repeats, dropping to his knees and grabbing Yosaku by his shirt. "You hear me? You stole him from me, he's not yours-"

 _WHAM!_

Sanji's head is forced forward from a powerful kick to the head. He turns around and sees Zoro standing there with a furious expression on his face.

"What do you mean 'you stole him from me'? I was never yours! And besides, why can't I hang out with them?" He pulls Johnny and Yosaku off the ground and glares at Sanji. "You have Nami, you don't need me."

Sanji stares.

What the heck does that mean?

He stays silent as Zoro angrily stomps away.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2:** The thank-yous!_

 _CrystalSeekers : Hello there! I haven't seen you review before! Yeah, I had to give them away, SOMEHOW, so I figured why not do that? Plus those who haven't seen the sub might not have gotten it, since you know, "Aniki" is a very Japanese word- no, it is a Japanese word and it's just translated as "Big Bro" in the dub. _

_torao and rufi: Okay wait, is that like the way Luffy and maybe Zoro's names are said in different countries? Cause I know Luffy is translated differently depending on the country. Anyway, here's the next chapter._

 _VeryFineAutumn4869 : Is there any meaning behind all those numbers that come after your name? Anyway, yup, I'm back. I've got a really packed schedule but I was reading **Sink or Swim o** ver again and got pissed there was no chapter 4 (it's not very often I like my own stuff that much) and I was like, "Crap, now I gotta finish it" and then remember this giant-ass story that I'm super excited about so here you guys go! I'll try not to stress too much, but exam period is coming up again._

 _leon-andrew: Ah, sorry. I really am bad at geography._

 _lilcutieprincess : Yeah, they're making dubs and it's taking frigging FOREVER for them to get more. My friend got to Ace's death and then he's like, "Nope, the dub just stopped, gotta wait 6 months" and I'm like, "HELL NO!". Isn't **One Piece** always awesome?_

 _Okay, question for the chapter: ... um ... so can you explain Sanji's weird, radical behavior?_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note #1** : So I don't own **One Piece** and my friend has decided to be nice to me and will be catching up to me by Thursday, so I can start watching POST-TIME SKIP! YAY! Okay, so I was thinking of writing a **One Piece** Christmas themed story, when I realized that season wise, these chapters are nearing Christmas anyway so ... maybe I won't do that. Anyway, enjoy! (if you wanna check out ZoSan at Christmas (while they make-out and stuff) check out chapter 27 of **Beautiful Disaster.)**_

* * *

 ** _if my heart was a house  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

Zoro and Sanji fight: this is a fact that everyone knows and accepts because if you can't accept it, then they'll never move on and help Luffy become the Playground King, however at this point it's just hindering them as a crew.

Zoro won't hang out with them anymore and Sanji's not being friendly with anyone other than Nami at this point so they're kinda lost on what to do. To make things even worse, Zoro and Sanji's fights are really starting to annoy Zeff. They've turned from banter into Sanji and Zoro destroying the kitchen and almost driving off customers.

One day during lunch, Zoro is sitting alone (as he's come to do since the rift between he and Sanji) and instead a boy with a long nose takes the seat next to him. He's trembling, his knees shaking and hitting each other. Zoro glares at him, he likes being left alone but even though the boy seems utterly terrified, he still sits next to him, silent.

"What do you want?" snaps Zoro, fed up with his intense gaze and his trembling knee that keeps hitting his underneath the table.

"I-I am Captain Usopp!" declares the boy in a rather loud voice. The whole class groans loudly, but Zoro just raises an eyebrow.

"And …?"

"And … and I'm taking you hostage!"

Zoro's eyebrows raise to his hairline. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"I have a t-thousand men at my disposal," says "Captain Usopp". His hair is tied back underneath a hat which reminds Zoro strongly of a fishnet, and he holds out his quivering fists in a fighting position. Zoro thinks it's hilarious.

"It's lunch time," says Zoro. "You can't take me hostage in a school."

"Wait till recess, I'll take you by surprise!"

Zoro doesn't bother to mention that it's not a surprise if he tells him about it. Instead he eats hsi lunch in silence, ignoring the scaredy-cat next to him for the rest of the duration of his meal.

When the bell rings, everyone runs out of the school like they're on fire, trying to see who gets to claim the soccer field first, who gets the basketball court area, who gets all the fun jumprope. Zoro just wanders to the small area surrounded by trees and sits down, waiting for Johnny and Yosaku.

Then he hears it.

Someone moving in the dirt. Their stealth powers are less than amazing and Zoro has no doubt that it's Usopp. He rolls his eyes. Does Usopp know Zoro knows three different types of martial arts? And he's really close to getting his black belt in karate. He closes his eyes and waits until their footsteps are closest, then he launches out his fist in their direction, only to feel pain.

Zoro opens his eyes.

It is not Usopp who he sees. It's someone he's never seen before.

He's got dark hair and freckles littering his face, a somewhat cowboy-like hat around his neck, grinning at Zoro widely. "So you're Zoro," he says.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH! CAPTAIN USOPP CLAIMS YOU AS A HOSTAGE!"

Zoro simply shifts his weight slightly and Usopp comes barrelling out of his hiding place. No target to hit, his momentum causes him to tumble forward and he tucks himself into a ball. His body hits one of the trees and he uncoils, letting out a groan.

"Ace!"

Luffy suddenly appears then as well and Zoro wonders if this was all just a strategically executed ambush of him for some reason. Behind Luffy he can see Sanji and Nami, both with wide eyes.

"That's Ace?!" they both seem to say in unison.

Luffy approaches the larger boy and wraps his arms around him, hugging him tightly. "ACE!" he grins, chuckling in that weird way of his. "So you escaped?" he asks, looking up at his big brother.

"That's right," Ace says, ruffling Luffy's hair.

They do look kinda similar, that Zoro can admit. But still, isn't Ace older than them? What is he doing out with the little kids? And he's big, taller than Luffy, Nami, Usopp and Sanji. He's not quite sure what's going on right now, but at least Zoro's almost as tall as Ace, there's that to be proud of.

"Wait, we're going to save _him_?" asks Sanji, wrinkling his nose and Zoro's attention is brought to the blond again. "Let the Marinmo wander on his own, s'not like we owe him anything."

"We're not saving Zoro, we're saving Usopp," says Luffy, rolling his eyes and saying it as though it's the most obvious thing he's ever heard. "From Ace."

"But Ace attacked Zoro," says Nami. "And so did Usopp."

"So Usopp got caught in the … the …-"

"Cross-fire," says Ace. "Got caught between two bad things at once."

"Aren't I the victim here?" demands Zoro, looking around him at the unreasonable people he's surrounded by. Ace is three years older, that makes Zoro think he should be smarter, shouldn't he? This has to be the stupidest plan he's ever heard of.

"It's not like they were actually going to attack you," says Luffy. "We just need you two to make up," he adds, pointing to Zoro and Sanji. "And we're not leaving till you sort out your problems."

Suddenly, Sanji is pushed forward by Nami, and Zoro and he are surrounded by Ace, Luffy, Nami and Usopp. No way out it seems.

"Now talk."

"What about?" snarls Sanji. "Marimo is just being unreasonable."

"I'm being unreasonable?!" Zoro echoes, rolling his eyes. "Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

"Look, I told you, just cause Nami doesn't like you as much as she likes me, doesn't mean you have to get jealous!"

"I'm not jealous!"

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

"That's the pot calling the kettle black," Zoro snaps. "Anyway, I don't have a problem with you. I have a problem with you," Zoro points at Nami. He ignores how Sanji's screaming about how rude it is to just point at someone like that.

"M-me?" Nami repeats.

"Yeah, you."

Luffy rubs his chin as if he has a beard. It's really kind of freaking Zoro out if he's being honest. "Okay!" he says, with a big grin. "Nami, apologize to Zoro."

"For what?" Nami demands, her voice raising an octave in her surprise. Or her guilt. Zoro's not quite sure which one it is.

"For being mean to Zoro."

"I barely even talk to Zoro, how can I be mean to him?"

"You're neglecting a fellow crewmate," says Luffy. "Obviously he feels sad about that."

Not exactly, but Zoro's not going to correct him. He grunts, which is, in his opinion, neither a yes or no, so it's not like he's lying.

"Look, just cause your stupid friend has a crush on me or whatever doesn't mean I'm being mean to you!" Nami says, gesturing to Sanji. "He's an idiot, of course he's going to do stupid things. Just … whatever. It's not like I'd ever like him anyway."

Okay, that was a sudden jump. Zoro has no idea what just happened. He blinks. So Nami knows that Sanji likes her? This question is vocally said by Sanji not long after Zoro's thought it.

"Of course I know, you're as subtle as your hair," Nami says, rolling her eyes. "Besides, you've gotta catch me before you can even think of having me."

Ace watches the exchange and Zoro doesn't like the way he seems very calculating. Zoro doesn't like it. Not at all.

"I got it!" Ace grins. He turns to Nami. "You need to be nicer to these boys," he tells her. She's about to put up a fight, obvious from the way she huffs, but then he turns to Sanji. "You need to divide your attention better between your friends." Zoro's smirking, he knows it, Sanji's gotten chewed out! He's about to say something witty when Ace turns to him. "And you, Mr. Zoro, need to learn to be less possessive."

Posessive?

What makes Ace think Zoro's possessive? Out of all things, that has to be the most inaccurate way to describe Zoro. If anyone's possessive, it's Sanji, the way he guards his toothbrush like he's the guardian of clean teeth or something and how he never lets anyone touch his stuff, you'd think he'd be the most possessive.

But before he can question it, Johnny and Yosaku come running up to them.

"Aniki!"

"Stop calling me that!" Zoro says, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, let's go-"

"You're not going anywhere," says Ace, holding Zoro by the scruff of his shirt. "You guys," he calls to Johnny and Yosaku, "Come join us."

Johnny and Yosaku look at each other, confused. Zoro's confused too. He doesn't get it. But then the rest of recess is spent playing with Johnny and Yosaku and apparently while Zoro was busy beiung angry, the Straw Hat Pirates (as Luffy has called them) gained a new member, who is now fighting for the captain position against Luffy (he's talking about Usopp).

He can't help but stare at Ace in awe as he plays with them. He's older, kinda dumb, but he managed to solve their problem and Zoro hasn't gotten the faintest clue how the hell that happened. Maybe he may have some respect for the guy.

Then he gets spotted by a monitor who says he's skipping class and he gets dragged away by his ear, complaining the whole time.

Maybe Zoro should rethink his thoughts on him.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : The thank-yous!_

 _torao and rufi: S orry, there's no LawLu in this story, but I hope you'll like the other pairings anyway!_

 _lilcutieprincess: Yup, it really is. I'm someone who hates shotacon, so you can't expect much out of them than just puppy love until they're at least in their teens. Sorry. But don't worry, time-skips exist in this story too!_

 _VeryFineAutumn4869 : PX 4869, right? I looked it up cause I forgot that number was that important. Oh I love **Detective Conan**! Huge Heiji and Kazuha shipper over here. Actually have a few unwritten, half-composed **Detective Conan** fics. _

_Megenehason ZOSAN-LAWLU LOVER (x2) : Hello! Chibi Zoro and Sanji is ADORABLE, which is part of why I wrote this story. It's gonna be a long story, gonna take a long time. Zoro and Sanji are 8 in this story (at the beginning). The story spans over the course of 20 years, so yeah, it's long, it's gonna take some time. It'll really pick up a lot more/better updates, more frequent and long next year (like, late 2017) once my schedule changes since I'm graduating this year. I feel really bad to admit that I didn't initially have an introduction for Usopp, I mean I knew he'd be in the story, but I didn't think of his intro too much ... well, here he is._

 _So I know this chapter's kinda crowded, it's got a lot, but what do you think of Ace and Usopp?_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Author's Note #1** : I am so sorry this is so late! There was exams and stressing and then hospital visits and just ... it was stressful. I know those all sound like horrible excuses, but I really am sorry, I kept thinking about this story quite a lot and I was working on other things, but I'm back now! Anyway I don't own **One Piece,** I moved on to see past the time-skip and at the Fishman Island arc. I ended up crying at 10 in the morning on the first Tuesday of my break, bawling about the whole thing. Oda's still got it. I also ended up reading Johnlock quite a bit. It was fun and I may have went on a **Sherlock** marathon. Haven't seen the new season yet though._

* * *

 ** _if my heart was a house  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **In front of him stands a boy. He's dirty looking, has green hair and his tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes make it obvious he's been crying. He clutches a white sword to his chest possessively and sniffles, snot dripping out of his nose.**

 **"Eggplant, meet Zoro. He'll be staying with us from now on."**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

Zeff is acting weird today. He wakes them up in the morning instead of setting an alarm, gives Zoro a bigger lunch and even takes them to school himself. It doesn't make any sense. When Sanji asks Zoro why that is, Zoro shrugs and says the old man's weird.

The day goes on as usual, nothing out of the ordinary until they come home and Zeff is waiting with Patty and Carne, a cake in the kitchen.

Zoro's eyes widen and then he runs, bolting to his room.

"What's the cake for?" asks Sanji, reaching to lick it, but Zeff shoos his hand away.

"It's Zoro's birthday today."

Sanji's eyes widen.

Oh ….. This is starting to make a bit more sense to him now.

He wants to bring it up to Zoro, to ask him why he never told him, but he doesn't. Mainly because Zoro's acting like he wants to bite off Sanji's head and Zoro still scares him from time to time. They've just worked their way out of a huge dispute, now is not the time to go back at each other's throats.

So instead he waits, wondering if Zoro will tell him.

He doesn't.

* * *

Sanji goes to school the next day with a plan. He's going to surprise Zoro.

He wakes up extra early and bakes a cake with Zeff, then hides it in his bag. He's sure Usopp will be willing to share his food with Sanji during lunch if it's for a good cause. He tells his friends during a small break between classes and Nami mutters something about how, if Sanji likes her, why's he doing something like this for Zoro? But Sanji ignores her. He lives with Zoro, there are some things he just has to do for people he lives with.

When lunch comes around, Sanji has a bit of a problem.

How do you distract a Zoro? Because the problem is that now they're on good terms, Zoro isn't ignoring him, which is good, he supposes, but at the same time this makes surprising him extra hard if he won't leave him alone.

He needs someone to distract Zoro.

He makes a gesture towards Usopp, who keeps looking ahead, as if he doesn't even notice that Sanji's essentially hugging air. Zoro's giving him a weird look. Sanji hasn't really minded that they're desk buddies, but right now it's coming as a huge convenience (he thinks that's the word) cause now he's looking at him like he's crazy.

Usopp continues to ignore him.

What's the use of the new member of the Straw Hats if he doesn't even pay attention?

Sanji balls up a napkin and thinks about the cake in his bento. Zoro's going to ask him why he's not eating soon if he doesn't get this done. He closes his eyes and thinks one thing _: it's for Zoro's birthday_ , and then, hoping his aim will be good for once, he aims and throws.

It lands on Usopp's desk and Sanji considers that a victory.

Except then Usopp takes the napkin and uses it to wipe his face. Because when most people send napkins flying across the classroom, it's clearly just so you can get rid of that dribbling bit of soya sauce. Clearly.

Sanji stands up and Zoro stares at him weirdly. Yes, Sanji knows he's acting weird. But he stomps off to Usopp's desk and slams his hands against the desk.

"Distract. Him."

Usopp looks up at him and raises an eyebrow in confusion. Sanji nudges his head in Zoro's direction. Usopp seems to get it then and he packs up his lunch quickly and heads over to Zoro's side, prattling on about something involving a sumo wrestler and his great grandfather.

Sanji tip-toes into the hallway, trying to be discreet.

"Sanji?"

Okay nope, can't be discreet it seems.

Sanji looks up to see a teacher looking down at him. "Why aren't you in class?" she asks, putting her hands on her hips and giving him that look, the one that tells him he should be concerned, that he should feel guilty for sneaking out.

"But-"

"No buts mister, you know you're not allowed out until you're dismissed for recess," she says, frowning at him.

Sanji tugs on the hem of her skirt and whispers in her ear his reason for "escaping". She gives him a small pat on the head and lets him go. He's pretty proud of himself for convincing her to do that.

When he comes back into the classroom he puts the cake on the table and Zoro is having a heated conversation with Usopp about the improbability of a sumo wrestler being able to ice skate alongside Usopp's grandfather, regardless of what he says.

Zoro stares at it like it's a foreign object that's dropped out of outer space.

"It's a cake," says Sanji.

"I can see that," says Zoro.

"It's not too sweet," Sanji says quickly, just in case Zoro is put off by the icing.

Zoro frowns. "But why is there a cake?"

"It's your birthday."

"That was yesterday."

"So I'm a bit late, doesn't really matter that much, does it?"

Zoro looks up at Sanji and frowns. "But why does it matter that it was my birthday?"

Sanji fiddles with his hands, unsure of what to say in response to that. "Well … you're my friend, aren't you?"

"I am?" He sounds mystified, like the idea of being friends with Sanji is foreign.

Sanji glances at Usopp out of the corner of his eye. He wants the cake, he can see it. Better speed this up then. "Got a problem with that?"

"What if I don't want to be your friend?"

"Now you're just being difficult for the sake of being difficult," Sanji says and he doesn't pout because that would be really immature of him and Sanji is nothing if not mature. "Do you want me to take it back?"

"No, you can't take it back, you've already said it."

Sanji rolls his eyes. "Just eat the damn cake, Marimo."

He doesn't miss the small smile on Zoro's face as he eats it.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2** : The thank-yous!_

 _VeryFineAutumn4869 : Hello! Really? It's about them?! Well then I gotta watch it! I kinda think of Zoro as very territorial so that's how that ended up happening._

 _lilcutieprincess : Yay! I'm always freaking out about people being in character._

 _Me genehason ZOSAN-LAWLU LOVER: Yeah, there's gonna be longer chapters, these bits of all kinda fluff bits till the long chapters start coming. _

**_Okay, question of the chapter, I guess ... Uh ... so now they're friends! Yay! What was the most interesting birthday gift you've ever received?_**


End file.
